He certainly doesn't see nose-to-the-grindstone methods as absolutely necessary.
From the chron.com
Priorities, we got to keep our eyes on the ball and our noses to the grindstone.
From the economist.com
Time away from the grindstone gets you to see past the rock and the hard place.
From the sfgate.com
We can all get in the foxhole, put our nose to the grindstone and move forward.
From the tennessean.com
He loolks like kept his nose to the grindstone for a lot of his time in office.
From the guardian.co.uk
Many complain about the intense pressure to keep their noses to the grindstone.
From the time.com
He put his nose to the grindstone and started working hard and put up results.
From the jsonline.com
By all accounts, these two keep their noses to the grindstone in their daily work.
From the dailynews.com
The rest should have their noses to the grindstone and their shoulders to the wheel.
From the guardian.co.uk
More examples
A revolving stone shaped like a disk; used to grind or sharpen or polish edge tools
Grindstone is an album by the Norwegian band Shining. Released in 2007 by Rune Grammofon.
Grindstone (foaled 1993) is a thoroughbred racehorse who won the Kentucky Derby in 1996. He became jockey Jerry Bailey's 2nd Kentucky Derby winner and the second in a row for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
Grindstone is a desktop application, produced by Epiforge Software, that allows users to create and organize tasks and to track time. It includes a range of other features that supplement this primary functionality. ...
A grindstone is a round sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools. They are usually made from sandstone.
For a person to dream of turning a grindstone, his dream is prophetic of a life of energy and well directed efforts bringing handsome competency. If you are sharpening tools, you will be blessed with a worthy helpmate. To deal in grindstones, is significant of small but honest gain.
A rotating abrasive disc for rubbing away metal and for sharpening tools