This was how a top manager at Torrington Supply Co., Waterbury, CT, described his boss, and it's a keen assessment. CEO Joel Becker runs a company in which every job entails performance measurements and gets incentivized accordingly. At Torrington, even warehouse order pickers are able to earn extra income by exceeding performance goals.
Becker's scientific approach reflects a graduate degree in physics and a brief stint pursuing a Ph.D. in cellular biology before dropping out to work in the plumbing supply business. Here's how he explains that decision: “I learned quickly that the people in that field were really, really smart. People like me were mostly hard workers, and I'd have to work a lot harder to compete with them.