---
title: '''Moneyball'' Author Michael Lewis'' Key to Success Might Surprise You'
description: For the bestselling author, laziness serves as a way of deciphering what is important to him.
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published: '2017-03-23T12:07:15.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-17T05:30:42.000Z'
section: Career Advice
tags:
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word_count: 129
canonical: https://money.com/michael-lewis-moneyball-success/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
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![Key Speakers At The 2016 SALT Conference](https://img.money.com/2017/03/michael-lewis-success.jpg)
*Michael Lewis speaks at the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, May 12, 2016.*

For bestselling author [Michael Lewis,](https://money.com/michael-lewis-amos-tversky-daniel-kahneman/) laziness is viewed as a helpful route to [success](https://time.com/collection-post/4678729/pamela-abalu-american-voices/), not a detriment.

He doesn't view the attribute, which he defines as being slow to act, as a negative, he told Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, [according to CNBC](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/22/moneyball-author-michael-lewis-says-being-lazy-is-the-key-to-success.html?__source=Facebook), but as a way of figuring out what he really wants to do.

"My laziness serves as a filter," Lewis said. "Something has to be really good before I'll decide to work on it."

Lewis is the [author](http://michaellewiswrites.com/index.html#top) of the *Blind Side,* the book about a southern family who takes in an illiterate football player that was turned into an Academy Award winning film, and several books about about financial crises, including *The Big Short, Flash Boys* and *Boomerang.* He also wrote the hit baseball book *Moneyball*.

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