The idea of "making good" right from the start is the thoroughness part. Whatever task the apprentice is set, they think of it as part of their career path and

The idea of "making good" right from the start is the thoroughness part. Whatever task the apprentice is set, they think of it as part of their career path and do it absolutely to the best of their ability. That's the idea, anyway. It's like the situation with sushi chefs: they spend years doing little more than washing rice, but it supposedly instills an attitude that even the most trivial task is beautiful and worthy of care -- because they have had time to realise that while focusing on it. That's just my interpretation. The experience I've had in various semi-vocational educational contexts in the UK is that part of the message is that preparatory/ancillary tasks are just as important as the skillful work. Focusing on them is arguably the only way to acquire the attitude needed to do the skilled work.