In 1987, shortly after I became a manufacturing manager, the shop foreman at the time warned me about a young assembler. “Watch out for Michael,” the foreman said. “He tends to bend the rules. You may need to talk to him.”

In fact, I did watch Michael, and it did appear that he approached his work a little differently—a bit like the violinist whose bow was out of sync with the rest of the section.

I asked him why he did his job in his particular way. 

“I’m just naturally lazy,” Michael responded impishly.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, and the flood gates opened.

Michael explained how he organized his bench, tools, and material to make the job easier. “Look, I set up for each job so I’m not running around looking for things,” he said while pointing to an employee who was obviously searching for something. “Like her.”

I chuckled. “Is that what you mean by lazy?” I asked.

 …