The Self-Supervised, Cooperative “Man” Makes the Business

Thomas J. Watson Sr. on the Importance of Employee Encouragement and Instruction.

​By keeping the importance of the man in mind, I find that we can promote self-supervision and cooperation, which I consider the most important assets of any organization. ​​The man is more important to me than the title. Nearly every captain of American industry was “just a man” in some organization a few years ago and carries his title and position today because he proved to be the right kind of a man.

The first principle of our policy is to stand back of the man and, by instruction, encouragement and aid, help him to develop himself. ​When this is done, and men are needed to take positions which carry the titles and greater responsibility, it is not necessary to go outside of the organization to find them.

​Every man in any organization should be taught that his most important duty to himself and his company is to cooperate with his fellow workers. He should be taught that, regardless of his ability, his efforts must mesh . . . without friction . . . with the other gears of the business machine of which he is a part, if he is to be of value to the organization.

Thomas J. Watson Sr., "Personality in Business," 1917

Somehow, I always find it interesting that what we take for granted in what makes a winning "sports" team, we fail to consider critical in building a winning "business" team: A disciplined, cooperative football "team" will beat a bunch of "franchise players" posing as a team any day of the week.

Peter E. Greulich

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