Chris Johnson: Why don't we like things that actually work?

Americans like to pontificate, argue, debate, predict, prognosticate, worry and whine about problems, but they're not very good at addressing or solving them. I think one reason for that -- besides the fact that most Americans have the intellectual capacity of a long-toed salamander -- is that we believe things that work are just a little too crazy to try.

For instance, napping has been proven over and over again to improve worker efficiency. It's long been a common practice in some Asian countries, and even some American companies like Google find that encouraging naps results in higher work performance. I learned all that by Googling the topic on my Asian-made iPhone, by the way.

Yet, when American companies agonize through meeting after meeting (ironically) about how to become more efficient, anyone who brings up something like a nap policy will be brushed aside, while someone who comes up with a revolutionary concept like "Hey, let's start an Employee of the Month program!" will advance to the final round of efficiency meetings.

I've always been a proponent of napping at work to improve efficiency. Experts suggest that a 20-minute nap is all you need to get a significant boost in your work, but I pushed for even more. If 20 minutes does all that, just imagine what a couple hours of sleep could do!

Back during my copy editing days, I couldn't get the Ledger-Enquirer to go along with my napping campaign, so I had to strike out on my own. I learned to nap for hours with my eyes open. I don't have evidence to support that I was indeed more efficient, but I'm pretty sure I impressed folks with how intently I stared at my computer screen.

"Boy, that Chris sure is focused on that story, isn't he?"

"I'll say -- he's been editing it since Tuesday!"

There's now a push to keep kids in school for more days and longer days, as well as to sharpen the focus on math and science instead of things like art and music. Studies have shown those methods to be effective in not just improving test scores but also ripping the will to live out of those children so that they become miserable adults who are very good at a handful of categories on "Jeopardy" and identifying exactly when the Earth will be destroyed by an asteroid -- completely ruining the surprise.

Though they might work, there's also an aversion to the idea of longer school days -- including from people like me who are also wary of taking away classes like art, music, drama and beer-making that make school a little more tolerable. After all, most of us adults did not have long school days and school years, and look what geniuses we became.

Of course, there are those rare effective ideas that Americans actually support.

For instance, not long after the election of President Obama, a lot of folks started putting signs in their yards asking us to pray for our nation. And since then we've seen the stock market rise, unemployment fall, gas prices plummet, business start-ups increase 20 percent and a massive decline in terrorist attacks within the United States. The signs have worked so well that people continue buying more and more of them.

It's definitely a new idea that has worked. In fact, if Donald Trump gets elected, I might even buy one of those signs myself.

Connect with Chris Johnson at kudzukid.com.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Chris Johnson: Why don't we like things that actually work? ."