A Four-Letter Word to Be Careful With - Thoughts from Kevin

In this episode, we’re talking about a four letter word, a four letter word to be careful with. And that word is lazy. Lazy is a word of judgment. It’s something that we see inside of their behavior. It’s something that we infer about their intentions. Like just because someone’s laying on their couch right now, does that necessarily mean they’re lazy? I don’t know. All I know is there’s a difference between judging and observing, and the word lazy is typically used as a word of judgment. So we use it on others. And then once we’ve labeled them as lazy, it changes our perspective about them and we use it on ourselves. Now, I used to say to myself, if I didn’t get up, when I’d plan to that I’m lazy. Now I try to remember to say not that I’m lazy but that I didn’t get up when I planned to. Those are two different things. They have two different inferences about myself. And so here’s my point. The word lazy is a label that rarely serves us, whether we’re thinking about ourselves or whether we’re thinking about someone else. Because the fact is, we’ve all been lazy. But no one is always lazy. Lazy is a choice or maybe a habit, but it’s not a character trait. Tweet it out: Be careful with using the word ‘lazy’ – because it places judgment that could be incorrect and is seldom helpful for anyone. @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Future of Work Newsletter.