Timeless Management Principles:
Respect for the Individual

Watson Sr., Jr. and Drucker on Respect

Date Published: August 3, 2021
​Date Modified: January 1, 2024

Respecting the Uniqueness of the Individual

It will never be possible to obtain anything resembling unanimity on the concrete ways to realize the basic beliefs and promises of American society. But on these beliefs and promises themselves the American people agree apparently with hardly a dissenting voice.

Fundamentally, American political philosophy stands on the Christian basis of the uniqueness of the individual. From this follows (a) the promise of justice or, as we usually phrase it, of equal opportunities. From it also follows (b) the promise of individual fulfillment, of the "good life," or, in a perhaps more precise formulation, the promise of status and function as an individual.

Peter F. Drucker
The Concept of the Corporation
"The Corporation as Human Effort - Leadership"

Handling the Round Peg in a Square Hole

"Another thing that I want to mention tonight is that when men start in a business as large as ours, with as many different departments and different phases of work, it is not always possible for the supervisor to place them in exactly the spot they should occupy. If you feel that you are not a proper fit, talk to your supervisor.

"We often get a round peg in a square hole or a square peg in a round hole and cannot make them fit. So if you feel that you are not properly fitted in, talk to your supervisor, ask him what he would think about moving you into some other department. If a man is not functioning 100% in one department it does not mean that he has to get out of The IBM. It means simply that he should look the ground over, talk to his supervisor and get placed where he will fit."

​Thomas. J. Watson Sr.
The World's Greatest Salesman
"​Steps in the Ladder of Success," 1931

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Respect for the Individual

Our basic belief is respect for the individual, for his rights and dignity. It follows from this principle that IBM should:

• Help each employee to develop his potential and make the best use of his abilities.

• Pay and promote on merit.

• Maintain two-way communications between manager and employee, with opportunity for a fair hearing and equitable settlement of disagreements.

Thomas. J. Watson Jr.
Thirty Years of Management Briefings, 1969

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​Many say that conditions today are different - and they are. Are they so different though that respect for the individual no longer applies in today's society? In a Watson's IBM, respect was pay for performance, respect was placing an employee where they performed best for the corporation, and respect was maintaining two-way communication between employee-owner and manager.

​Respect was fundamentally understanding the uniqueness of the individual and their differentiated contributory roles.

​Is this thinking out of date in the 21st Century? Or is it just waiting to be rediscovered?

​Peter E. Greulich Insight
April 21, 2013​

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