Early writings on task design advocated the simplification and standardization of tasks comprising a job as means of enhancing productivity in organizations. Indeed, these strategies led to simplified production scheduling, lowered training costs, and reduced expenditures for labor through the employment of lower‐skilled, more interchangeable, and cheaper workers. However, simplification also produced monotonous work, which presumably led to boredom and dissatisfaction that cost employers in terms of increased absenteeism and turnover and reduced production output.