Why Goof Offs Get Ahead At Work

People spend vast amounts of time on the Internet. They watch the latest cat videos, check Facebook, etc. It's not exactly productive, per se. But I want to make the case that the things you think are big time sucks -- like reading the Fail blog -- are not the real causes of wasted time at work.

A few years ago, I interviewed Ben Huh, the CEO of the Cheezburger network, which has brought us such internet memes as the LOLcats. He started our meeting by telling me that a major consulting company had recently blocked access to the Fail blog for its employees. While admitting that this was a self-serving line, he claimed that "a little bit of goofing off at work helps productivity."