The Lease Negotiator

Thanks Dad -- Part II

After I realized that I was still using the secret my father taught me about knowing which book to look in (see, Thanks Dad -- Part I), I knew I had to make my library more efficient. I was spending an inordinate amount of time looking for prior deals, and I was starting to feel guilty that I was only talking to my colleagues when I needed something (it wasn't that I didn't want to talk to them at other times, but I was too busy).  Then I drew on another "life-story" my father told me when I was a child.

This one is about "old man Chrysler." Parenthetically, it wasn't until recently that I confirmed there really was an old man Chrysler (Walter P. Chrysler); it never really mattered to me. Anyhow, Old man Chrysler had a bottle neck on the assembly line. He went down to the line and asked the foreman why. When the foreman didn't have a satisfactory answer, old man Chrysler asked the foreman "who is your laziest worker?" The foreman, knowing the laziest worker would be replaced by a good worker, replied, "Smitty, but he's showing signs of improvement." Old man Chrysler demanded to see Smitty, and the foreman went to the coffee room nearby and found Smitty reading the newspaper. As Smitty walked up to meet old man Chrysler, the old man pointed to the bottle neck position and said, "Smitty, this is now your job on the line." Then the old man left. Two weeks later, old man Chrysler went back to the line and asked the foreman how it was going. The foreman replied "smooth, no more bottle neck." Old man Chrysler then walked into the coffee room, saw Smitty reading the newspaper, said thank you to Smitty, and went back to his office.

My father's story has always had great meaning to me. Laziness, not necessity, is the mother of invention.  Think about it. I don't use "ctrl c" out of necessity when I need to copy something on the computer. I'm just too lazy to click edit, then click copy. Some think that it's efficiency that gets the credit; I think it is laziness. Some say that since I can either get more work done or do the same amount and go home sooner, that efficiency gets the credit. But it has nothing to do with efficiency. I chose to work more so I can make more money, then I can pay someone to sweat their butt off cutting my grass while I push computer buttons. Consequently, those lazy landscapers invent more "efficient" equipment so they can cut more grass, make more money and pay someone to do whatever it is landscapers don't like to do.  Efficiency? Service economy? Industrious?  No, old man Chrysler didn't ask for that. Laziness, that's what he looked for. In the movie "Wall Street," Gordon Grecko (Michael Douglas) said, "Greed, for the lack of a better term, is good."  To me, it should be "Laziness, for the lack of a better term, is good." 

I wouldn't be surprised if Smitty's grandson works at LeaseLanguage.com