No, I’m not talking about the fact that he only sleeps 4 hours a night. Rather, I’m referring to the false dichotomy that he presents in his exceptional book Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World:

“Adaptability, not efficiency, must become our central competency.” 

I do take his point, that being effective today is mostly about “responsiveness to a constantly shifting environment.” However, I disagree that means giving up on efficiency altogether. Thinking in terms of adaptability instead of efficiency is wrong. What’s required is getting efficient at being adaptable.

It’s a question of optimization. Stop “optimising for a known (and relatively stable) set of variables” and start optimizing for that constantly shifting environment. 

Remember, as Peter Drucker said; “efficiency is doing things right.” There is no one universal way to be efficient that applies in all situations and environments. What is efficient depends on what you are doing and what you are optimizing for. There is always an efficient way to reach your goals; even when that goal is adaptability. Your job is to mindfully and intentionally find that way.

…read more about being effectively efficient over on Medium. Go, now.