When I was about twelve my father and grandfather took me out to a field to help load firewood into a truck. While they were BSing, I started tossing logs into the truck two at a time. My dad said to my grandfather, “They say if you want to find the quickest way to do something, get a lazy person to do it”. Even at twelve I knew that they were wrong.
It isn’t always about speed. If the logs were to be stacked to maximimize storage and reduce the load shifting around down the highway, throwing them in 2 at a time may be quicker but the wrong way to go about doing the job.
No they were right on the money. Most of the great inventions were from lazy people trying to make life easier. Who do you think invented the wagon that eventually evolved into the truck you loaded those logs in? Some lazy SOB that got sick of carrying logs by hand.
No! They were correct!
I would amend or posit what they were trying to convey - (apart from loading firewodd) oftentimes the “official” way of doing something is very time consuming and cumbersome. The person or persons from on high who mandate these activities oftentimes have never actually tried to accomplish said task. Have seen this many times, and some very clever thinking. “Work smarter, not harder”, etc.