“Work smarter, not harder.” It’s a term often heard by just about anyone who has ever set out to perform a task. It can be found on inspirational posters and do-it-yourself home repair manuals as well as articles on life management and corporate handbooks.
What is being talked about in these four brief words is efficiency. Coined by industrial engineer Allen F. Morgenstern in the 1930s, the phrase was created as part of Morgenstern’s Work Simplification Program, which aimed to “increase the ability of people to produce more with less.”