DISCERNING READERS
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • Keys to Success >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Appendix
      • You: The First Key
    • THINK Again! Series >
      • Ideas and High Ideals >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Prologue
        • Insights into Tom Watson >
          • Tom Watson's Character
          • A Wartime Humanitarian
          • Democracy's Man O' War
          • An Exemplary Man
          • On Youth & Education
        • A Successful Rebranding
      • The Rometty Edition >
        • Preface
        • Foreword
        • Introduction
        • Business Talk Interview
        • Book Trailers and Videos
      • The World's Greatest Salesman >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Workplace Safety
        • Images and Quotes
        • Book Trailers / Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • Authors and Writers >
        • Garland, Hamlin
        • Wise, John S. >
          • Slave Auction
          • Tribute to Robert E. Lee
          • On Lincoln's Assassination
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Davison, Henry P.
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Educators >
        • Washington, Booker T >
          • Up From Slavery
          • My Life and Work
          • Character Building
          • My Larger Education
          • The Man Farthest Down >
            • Booker T. Washington and John Burns
          • Future of American Negro >
            • Future of the Negro
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
          • My Forty Years with Ford
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Jr.
        • Rockefeller Sr.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Inventors & Innovators >
        • Fulton, Robert
        • Goodyear, Charles
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
          • "Why Men Strike" Review
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Our Times
          • The Education of an American
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications >
            • Mme. (Madame) Roland
          • Magazine Articles >
            • Disbanding the Confederate Army
            • Disbanding the Union Army
        • White, William Allen >
          • Woodrow Wilson, The Man
      • Military Leaders >
        • Lee, General Robert E.
      • Pioneers / Explorers >
        • Byrd, Richard E. >
          • Alone
          • Discovery
          • Little America
        • Columbus, Christopher
        • Lindbergh, Charles
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • American Individualism Book >
            • American Individualism Article
          • Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham >
          • Lincoln in the Telegraph Office
          • Abraham Lincoln Books By Ida M. Tarbell
        • Mesta, Perle
        • O'Connor, Basil and FDR >
          • Friends and Partners (Against Polio)
        • Roosevelt, Theodore >
          • Roosevelt: A Story of Friendship
        • Roper, Daniel C. >
          • Fifty Years of Public Life
        • Taft, William H.
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Wilson's Last Words
          • Wilson's Tasks and Life
          • Wilson's Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
      • Preachers >
        • Fosdick, Harry Emerson >
          • The Meaning of Prayer
          • The Meaning of Faith
          • The Meaning of Service
          • Power to See It Through
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
          • Keys to Success
          • Teamwork
        • Fortune Magazine >
          • USA: The Permanent Revolution
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
            • The Dream Behind the Business
          • The Companion Series
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • Dayton Scales in 1920
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Quotes By Watson
      • Quotes About Watson
      • Articles By Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles About Watson >
        • A Gift of Retirement
        • A Gift of Home Ownership >
          • Construction Timeline
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Story of "THINK" >
          • Two Journalists "THINK"
          • A Buddy Davis Interview
        • Learning from Crises
        • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • A 1943 Tax Problem
        • Fighting Discrimination
        • A Pajama Party
      • Pre-World War II >
        • Women in the Workplace
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule and Productivity in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Envison the 2029 State of the Union Address
      • Meritocracy and Teachable Humility
      • What Is Patriotism?
      • Presidents' Day 2024-25
      • Memorial Day 2025
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism & Individualism
      • Women as Citizens
      • Mary Slessor of Calabar
      • Walt Rostow Speaks to Congress
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Reincarnated Thoughts >
        • Why Lies Should Never Be Glorified
        • Are You More Than A Wise Entrepreneur?
        • A World of Peace or Turbulence?
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog

LinkedIn Needs an Incognito Mode

An Incognito Mode Could Help LinkedIn Make a Return

Date Published: June 10, 2021
​Date Modified: October 19, 2023
Image of man and woman on black background with tagline:
In 2021, I left LinkedIn. The feedback that I was getting on my articles was "muted." By this I mean that too many individuals had come to realize that LinkedIn--as a social media platform--will not necessarily get you a job, but it sure can keep you from getting one: just the "like" of an article may come back to haunt you in a job search.

So, does "LinkedIn Need an Incognito Mode?" Just a few years ago, my answer to this question would have been an emphatic, “No!” My initial experience with anonymous forums was not pleasant. But I learned, and to prove that old men can change their opinions, I am, now, just as insistent in my “Yes!” … with some qualifications.

This is why.
​Does LinkedIn Need an Incognito Mode?
  • ​My History with Anonymous Forums
  • ​My History with LinkedIn
  • ​​An intelligent, Verifiable, incognito Mode
  • A New Type of Social Media Platform: Anonymous but Verified
​My History with Anonymous Forums
Almost a decade ago, I wrote articles for Seeking Alpha. Although I knew IBM from 30 years as an employee, I wanted to test out my theories on the company as an investment.

Every night before one of my articles was scheduled to be published, I did not sleep well. Seeking Alpha is an anonymous forum, and individuals—when cloaked in secrecy—write what they think with abandon; and, if you want to be blasted on a social media platform, insult the company an individual has recently invested in.
Image of thunderstorm reflecting feedback on anonymous forums.
Anonymous forums are exciting!
​
​​Whew!
​The experience, though, taught me how to absorb disrespectful comments, handle disagreements with respect, deflect anger with humor, and really, really, read between the lines to find the heart of a person’s concerns and thoughts—or ask them to clarify their opinion. Sure there were jerks, but most of the individuals, like me, were there to learn and educate others. I took pride in controlling and maintaining civility in the conversations—not only with me but between the members of the community.

From my experience, there is nothing like an anonymous forum to humble a person with a half-baked idea or put a quick end to a half-truth—or, unfortunately, spread half-truths if not challenged. It is brutal. It requires a dedication to standing your ground against jerks, adapting your ideas to new insights from those who engage respectfully, agreeing to disagree at times, or even changing your whole belief system.

But isn’t that what it means to live as a member of humanity?
​My History with LinkedIn
Fast forward seven years and it is amazing how truly boring and anemic most LinkedIn discussions have become.

​It seems that the inhabitants of this social media forum have realized that LinkedIn will not get them a job—except through relationships maintained through it; but “like” the wrong comment or use the wrong word in a reply, and these actions may come back to haunt you as you look for a new opportunity.

​LinkedIn discussions are becoming as bland as the proliferation of bitter bromides, pleasing platitudes, and cat-and-dog videos.​
Picture of badger going
LinkedIn discussions are boring and "muted" and therefore not profitable
​So, I would propose that LinkedIn consider implementing an intelligent, verifiable, incognito mode. It needs to provide its users, not with a “cloak of secrecy,” but a “veil of protection” to encourage honest, intelligent feedback on matters that should be of a real concern to the economic welfare of our country. Of course, the following is to just start a discussion, not be the end-all solution. Let the security gurus, architectural geniuses, and business leaders who want real, genuine feedback get to work. If they do, I am sure they could define, build and implement a better solution.

What I am about to propose, is just to spur imagination, thought and feedback. As one IBM director told me, “Pete, it is easier to propose something to a committee and let them dissect and reassemble it, than to ask a committee to come up with something from scratch.” He was a cantankerous but wise old guy. Thanks Art!
​​An intelligent, Verifiable, incognito Mode
Let’s say that IBM’s Chief Human Resources Officer—new in her position—posts up a positive note on how, “We are ensuring equity in our hiring, and employee engagement actually increased in 2020!” Today, this will get thousands of likes, applauds and bear hugs from those who like the message but don’t work for the company, or those who have just been hired and haven’t yet experienced the other side of the human resource equation: Resource Actions.

There are tens of thousands who have (and still are) experiencing IBM’s age-discrimination in its firing practices. Today, they can’t call IBM on these practices for fear that when they apply for a new job, this will come back to haunt them.
Image of a Resume or CV application.
Wouldn't comments that are "anonymous but verified" be helpful?
What if, such an individual could respond to this post with the truth of the matter—or at least the facts as they have experienced and are experiencing them?

​What if, as they were getting ready to reply with an “unlike,” “body slam,” or a challenging question like “What is the actual employee engagement number and is it historically high or low?” they could choose an “incognito mode?”

​When they choose “incognito,” a quick set of options of how the “unlike” or “comment” could be documented would be presented such as the following:
​
  • Former IBM employee, Former IBM executive
  • Current IBM employee, Recent IBM hire (less than one year)
  • Not a current or former IBM employee
​This information would be intelligently extracted from and verified against the commenter’s LinkedIn employment history, but once the comment is posted, the verification data deleted (or whatever the security guys thinks is possible to guarantee anonymity). In a way, this is an extension to what Amazon already does for my books … it marks comments with “verified purchase.” Why not provide on LinkedIn “anonymous but verified” feedback from current and former IBM employees?

Now, when a chief executive posts an article or comment, the LinkedIn community starts to see reality in the feedback: a thousand likes and applauds from current employees “by name”—so, they get their social-media brownie points, and another thousand dislikes, thumbs downs, body slams, and comments from anonymous but verified sources: current and former employees—so the community sees the bigger picture. If that happens, isn’t it time for the chief executives to eat humble pie? Shouldn’t a credible social media platform seek to “out the truth in as verifiable a way as possible?”
​This Would Build a New Type of Social Media Platform: Anonymous but Verified
By the way, this would apply to this or my articles too! But I don’t think I would have as hard a time eating humble pie as some chief executives. I was served “pie” for years as I wrote my Seeking Alpha articles. I adapted. Too many chief executives are leading sheltered lives on social media—because of “muted” free speech. My question would be, “If an executive can’t handle social media, can he or she handle a company of 300+ thousand employees?

It is time for LinkedIn to implement feedback processes that will shed light on those organizations that have great, good, poor, and terrible human resource practices. We, the citizens of LinkedIn, should be able to distinguish between such organizations through feedback from our peers! In this way, by separating propaganda from truth, this social media platform could ensure that bad businesses fail faster, and great businesses grow quicker. What a great long-term goal!

By the way, I am a better person for having been served Seeking Alpha humble pie. I think some of our current executive leadership might be better if they were served up a nice slice of LinkedIn humble pie … at least every once in a while!
​Postscript: Of course, the real problem is if anyone would trust LinkedIn to protect their anonymity?

Return to business articles Home Page
© 2025 Peter E. Greulich. All Rights Reserved
Information posted on this site recognizes the legal right of copyrighted material. The following material is considered in the public domain effective January 1, 2025: (1) Works published in the United States prior to January 1, 1929, (2) All unpublished works created over 120 years ago, (3) Works published in the United States before 1978 that have no © copyright notice, and (4) Works published in the United States after 1929 but before 1964 with a proper © copyright notice that were not renewed in their 28th year. Some information is used here that does not fit this criteria. This type of material has been purposely minimized, and it is used in good faith, usually with an attribution, and in the belief that such usage would withstand a test of fair use. This site also utilizes images from Pixabay that are "free to use under the Pixabay license" and "do not require attribution." Any concerns with the public domain, fair usage, or attribution of material utilized on this site will be removed until a discussion can resolve the matter with its permanent removal or republication. To reach us, use the "Contact" menu item above or this hyperlink: [Contact Us]
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • Keys to Success >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Appendix
      • You: The First Key
    • THINK Again! Series >
      • Ideas and High Ideals >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Prologue
        • Insights into Tom Watson >
          • Tom Watson's Character
          • A Wartime Humanitarian
          • Democracy's Man O' War
          • An Exemplary Man
          • On Youth & Education
        • A Successful Rebranding
      • The Rometty Edition >
        • Preface
        • Foreword
        • Introduction
        • Business Talk Interview
        • Book Trailers and Videos
      • The World's Greatest Salesman >
        • Preface
        • Introduction
        • Workplace Safety
        • Images and Quotes
        • Book Trailers / Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • Authors and Writers >
        • Garland, Hamlin
        • Wise, John S. >
          • Slave Auction
          • Tribute to Robert E. Lee
          • On Lincoln's Assassination
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Davison, Henry P.
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Educators >
        • Washington, Booker T >
          • Up From Slavery
          • My Life and Work
          • Character Building
          • My Larger Education
          • The Man Farthest Down >
            • Booker T. Washington and John Burns
          • Future of American Negro >
            • Future of the Negro
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
          • My Forty Years with Ford
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Jr.
        • Rockefeller Sr.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Inventors & Innovators >
        • Fulton, Robert
        • Goodyear, Charles
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
          • "Why Men Strike" Review
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Our Times
          • The Education of an American
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications >
            • Mme. (Madame) Roland
          • Magazine Articles >
            • Disbanding the Confederate Army
            • Disbanding the Union Army
        • White, William Allen >
          • Woodrow Wilson, The Man
      • Military Leaders >
        • Lee, General Robert E.
      • Pioneers / Explorers >
        • Byrd, Richard E. >
          • Alone
          • Discovery
          • Little America
        • Columbus, Christopher
        • Lindbergh, Charles
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • American Individualism Book >
            • American Individualism Article
          • Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham >
          • Lincoln in the Telegraph Office
          • Abraham Lincoln Books By Ida M. Tarbell
        • Mesta, Perle
        • O'Connor, Basil and FDR >
          • Friends and Partners (Against Polio)
        • Roosevelt, Theodore >
          • Roosevelt: A Story of Friendship
        • Roper, Daniel C. >
          • Fifty Years of Public Life
        • Taft, William H.
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Wilson's Last Words
          • Wilson's Tasks and Life
          • Wilson's Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
      • Preachers >
        • Fosdick, Harry Emerson >
          • The Meaning of Prayer
          • The Meaning of Faith
          • The Meaning of Service
          • Power to See It Through
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
          • Keys to Success
          • Teamwork
        • Fortune Magazine >
          • USA: The Permanent Revolution
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
            • The Dream Behind the Business
          • The Companion Series
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • Dayton Scales in 1920
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Quotes By Watson
      • Quotes About Watson
      • Articles By Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles About Watson >
        • A Gift of Retirement
        • A Gift of Home Ownership >
          • Construction Timeline
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Story of "THINK" >
          • Two Journalists "THINK"
          • A Buddy Davis Interview
        • Learning from Crises
        • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • A 1943 Tax Problem
        • Fighting Discrimination
        • A Pajama Party
      • Pre-World War II >
        • Women in the Workplace
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule and Productivity in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Envison the 2029 State of the Union Address
      • Meritocracy and Teachable Humility
      • What Is Patriotism?
      • Presidents' Day 2024-25
      • Memorial Day 2025
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism & Individualism
      • Women as Citizens
      • Mary Slessor of Calabar
      • Walt Rostow Speaks to Congress
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Reincarnated Thoughts >
        • Why Lies Should Never Be Glorified
        • Are You More Than A Wise Entrepreneur?
        • A World of Peace or Turbulence?
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog