The Power of Productive Laziness: Larry Page’s Revolutionary Approach to Success

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

In a world obsessed with hustle culture and grinding through 80-hour work weeks, Google co-founder Larry Page delivered a counterintuitive message that challenges everything we’ve been taught about success. Speaking to graduates at the University of Michigan, Page didn’t encourage them to work harder — he told them to “embrace technology to be lazy.”

Before you dismiss this as Silicon Valley eccentricity, consider the source. This advice comes from someone who helped build one of the most valuable companies in human history. Page’s unconventional wisdom reveals a fundamental truth about modern success that most people miss entirely.

The Misunderstood Art of Strategic Laziness

When Page talks about being lazy, he’s not advocating for Netflix binges or avoiding responsibility. He’s describing something far more sophisticated: the strategic use of technology and innovation to create maximum impact with minimum effort. It’s about working with leverage, not just working hard.

Page illustrated this principle with a simple but powerful example: “Three people can write software for millions; they can’t answer the phone a million times.” This observation captures the essence of scalable thinking. Traditional…