Lolly Daskal, who is the founder of a global leadership and consulting firm opines that it “It seems counterintuitive, but often the team members who seem lazy and disconnected are the smartest and most efficient.”
Henry Ford said he had a lazy man on every floor of his factory because they always found ways of doing things more efficiently. It's been clear for time now that today's corporate or political management style leaves no room to take a little time out and assess what you are doing, in which direction you are heading, or how your work effects the world around you.
A hard working and driven business women admits that she discovered that working less is more. According to her she has become lazier, which has made her much more focused. She spends time only on the things that really matter, and everything else, she either does not do at all, or delegates to someone else.
Mark McGuiness (a poet and author) recently penned an essay Why Boredom Is Good for your Creativity. McGuiness starts by quoting comedy writer Graham Linehan who said that, “I have to use all these programs that cut off the internet, force me to be bored, because being bored is an essential part of writing, and the internet has made it very hard to be bored.”
Finally, Hannah Richardson, a BBC News education reporter, believes that, “Children should be allowed to get bored so they can develop their innate ability to be creative.”
Maybe the time has come for investors to be lazy and bored, and defer any asset purchases with very few exceptions. I am currently seeing only one asset class that has significant upside potential: mining companies. Mining stocks are acting well. Newmont is up year-to-date by 37% and Barrick by more than 25% - admittedly from extremely depressed levels. I prefer physical precious metals, but I recognize the superior upside potential of mining companies.
