"I'm not going to spend my time printing out all those pages!"
He meant it. And he didn't!
We in a graduate-level course and a future promotion hinged upon its successful completion. Our reading material was handed to us on a CD-ROM (remember those?) and computer screens were not like the readers that are available today. So the best course of action was to use your own ink and paper, and print out the material for personal study. But he wouldn't do it. Too much time.
I remember the comment because I had spent a couple hours printing out the materials myself! I don't think I had any more time than he did. It WAS an inconvenience. And this was a comrade I thought highly of, with skills and abilities better than my own.
Result? He did not complete the course, was not promoted, and soon left the organization. I got promoted.
I've come to see that you don't have to be the smartest or the best at everything. Sometimes you just need to be willing to do what others won't!