Comment by master_crab

He could have been copying General Kurt Hammerstein. Paraphrasing here:

There are four kinds of military officers: smart and lazy, smart and hard working, dumb and hardworking, dumb and lazy.

Keep the dumb and hardworking away from any high level position. They actively make things worse. Dumb and lazy are useful for simple tasks with oversight. Smart and hardworking are excellent for high level staff and analyst positions.

The Smart and Lazy should be saved for high level command. They expend only the energy necessary to get the job done and then focus on the next important task.