Hubbard was writing in a totally different social era. He does imply that the “boss” is a good guy, who does or asks the right thing. Even then though, the innovative employee would be recognized by the employer who had the right character and backbone. IMO, the smart man “listens” to others, uses what is good and discards what is not.

I was trained in the military to ask questions also. The more well-informed you are, the better-equipped you are to do the job. Not asking questions was considered a problem, not a virtue.

There is a 19th-century industrialist bent to this essay. Workers were often viewed as cogs in a machine. A smart modern boss encourages independent thinking. A smart worker finds a job that encourages that, or goes into business for himself.

There are many pointy-haired bosses in the world. Sometimes Garcia simply does not exist. Sometimes they ask the wrong person to do the job, even when it is obvious that years of advanced training are required to properly complete the task. An instruction to ‘keep him alive’ that would be sufficient for an experienced trauma surgeon would result in certain death for the patient if given to the same doctor while they were a young resident. A directive to a freshly graduated fixed income analyst to read a 100 page bond indenture and find the most important parts would also qualify. If you had any sense you’d ask a seasoned bond attorney to scrutinize the document , and most preferably, the one who wrote it!

Employees with initiative are a great thing, but assuming that the boss always knows what’s going on or even deserves to remain the boss goes against the experience of many workers. The skills that are rewarded with promotions in good times are not always the ones that are required when the dung hits the fan. Smooth talking bosses with a fat guarantee they secured at the height of the bubble have gone shoe shopping while Rome burned around them. Plenty of people who like to claim that they are big picture managers and are good at making decisions have a mental glaucoma for the details that are necessary for the successful completion of complex tasks.

So far, I’ve only dealt with managerial traits such as laziness and incompetence. In many professions, blindly doing what your boss directs can result in criminal and civil actions against you. This is especially so if your boss is a fraudster who is trying to set you up as a fall guy. Good luck to those obedient souls whose boss is a Catbert!

Fundamentally there are established pecking orders in life, but we’re all free to challenge them and accept the potential risks and rewards of doing things our own way.

Thank God for inquisitive minds. I like the way you questioned Hubbard’s admonition to work hard and be loyal. Work hard at what? Be loyal to whom and for what reason? As a socialist, Hubbard did not want Rowan to ask questions. I can imagine Rowan walking off a cliff to his death, in obedience to orders, and Hubbard making him out to be a hero for doing it.