Description
Charles Kettering, before becoming a heading the Genera Motors Research Laboratory, in his early years, was foreman of a small gang of men setting telephone poles for a company in Ohio. T.A. Boyd, his biographer, wrote that while the men were sitting in the shade eating lunch one day, a tramp came by looking for something to eat. After taking the man to a restaurant for a meal, Kettering asked if he'd like a job so he could have plenty to eat. Whether prompted by a pretended or a real sense of decency, in repayment for the meal, the hobo accepted the offer. Kettering gave him some tools and left. On returning a little later, he found the man trying to dig a hole. The ground was underlain with shale, making hole- digging a grueling task. However, with blistered hands and sweat streaming from his forehead, the man was trying. Wanting to encourage the inexperienced digger, Kettering had his best hole digger show him what a good hole looked like. It was round and smooth with straight walls.
Then he began digging a hole himself, telling the man what fun it was to dig a good hole-that the better the quality of the hole, the more fun the task. Soon the hobo became so interested he wanted to try his hand at it again. The results: the man stayed on, not only becoming their best hole digger, but eventually, the foreman of the line gang. Sometime later, Kettering came across the former hobo. The man said to him, "You were the first person to tell me that work could be fun. If only years ago someone had taught me how much fun it is to work when a fellow does good work, I never would have become the bum I was." How one sees his or her job is reflected in the work produced-whether it's holes, an electronic component, or a satisfied customer.
ISBN:096238190X
