Regarding "Least Amount of Work" philosophy: It should still be alive and well. If it is not, you are working too hard and wasting your effort. Using L.A.W. methodology on the micro levels means you get more of those "micro" things done sooner and can thus turn in your project sooner.
Yes, it might APPEAR that you are working harder. But our mantra when I was with the U.S. Navy as a contractor was "Work smarter, not harder." When you can identify things to do and things to avoid doing (for efficiency's sake) then you are becoming a software engineer, the person who understands the fine art of the possible. Then you get more done and yet (when you have tossed in your smart-factor) you really aren't working any harder. (After all, it's not like you personally loaded a few extra Terabytes into your wheelbarrow to go fill another bit-bucket, right?) Your throughput has increased but at the end of the day, you sat at the same desk typing and maybe making a diagram or two, just like you did before you applied the smarts.
Here's the personal benefit: When your production goes up and your boss sees it, guess who gets first in line for the annual review and gets favorable ratings (and maybe a step-raise in pay). Hint: It ain't the slacker.
en.wikipedia.org
