"If you had saved that for two nights a week, it would have counted up about two and a quarter a month. Buy a pretty good book for that, couldn't you?"
"S'pose so."
"And if you had been buying books and studying them, going to night-school, or taking a correspondence course all these years, you would have had an education by now, wouldn't you?"
"Well, I don't know. Some men are born to succeed. They have more brains than others."
"Who, for instance?"
"Well, there's Edison."
"Yes; and while you were having a good time with the boys, wearing good clothes, and enjoying the comforts of life, Edison was working and studying, wearing shabby clothes and patched shoes, so that he might buy books. What right have you to say that Edison has a better head, naturally, than you until you have done what Edison did to develop his?"
"Well, if you put it that way—none, I guess."
"Then you might have been an Edison if you had sacrificed, worked, and studied as Edison did?"
"Perhaps."
"Then where does the 'hard luck' come in? While you were having a good time, Edison was having a hard time. Isn't that so?"
"Yes, and now Edison is on Easy Street and I am headed for the Bay. I see your point, Mr. Socratic. I guess it isn't luck, after all. It's my fault. But knowing that won't make it any easier for me when I get canned."
"What's the use crossing the bridge before you get to it? I read the other day of a man who studied law, was admitted to the bar, and made money on it, all after he was seventy years old."
"Think there's any chance for me? Can I learn anything at my age?"
"You learned something just now, didn't you?" asked Socratic.
"Yes, I guess I did."
"Well, if you can learn one thing, you can learn a hundred, can't you?"
"Guess so."
"Will you?"
"I sure will."
If you are a worker and not a shirker—if you are a lifter and not a leaner—if you have done your best to succeed in your present vocation, and are still dissatisfied, and feel that you could do better in some other line of work, we hope thatthis book has been of some assistance to you in determining your new line.
If, however, you have never attempted your best—if you have never worked your hardest—if you have grown weary, and laid down your burden in the face of difficulties and obstacles—if you have neglected your education, your training, your preparation for success, then, before you make a change, before you seek vocational counsel, do your best to make good where you are. It may be the one vocation in which you can succeed.
People used to thank God for their sickness and pain—at the same time naively praying Him to take back His gift. This inconsistency was due to a combination of ignorance and the good old human foible of blaming some one else. Folks did not know then, as well as they do now, that they had the stomachache because they were too fond of rich dainties. The cause of the pain being mysterious, they went back to first principles and blamed (or thanked) God for it. They believed that God afflicted them for their good and His glory, but their belief was hardly practical enough to keep them from praying Him not to do them too much good or Himself too much glory.
Bodily ills are no different from our other troubles. In case of doubt as to their origin, it is far more convenient to blame some supernatural source for them than to take the blame upon ourselves. In support of this, take the attitude of employers toward strikes and lockouts, their most outbreaking and violent troubles. These are named in all of our contracts along with lightning, tornadoes, floods, and other "acts of God," if not directly, at least by inference It is plain enough, at any rate, that those who draw up the contract consider strikes and lockouts as wholly outside of their control, as they do the elements. It is the same old ignorance, the same desire to shift the blame.
WHO IS TO BLAME?
Modern business common sense counts strikes and lockouts among preventable industrial diseases, just as the modern science of medicine classes smallpox, diphtheria, typhoid fever, the plague, tuberculosis, and the hookworm amongst preventable bodily diseases. The strike is a violent eruption, according to those who have made the closest study of the situation,resulting from long-continued abuses of bad management, bad selection, bad assignment of duties, and other vicious or ignorant practices. So a fever is a kind of physical house cleaning for the removal of debris of months or even years of foolish living.
But persistent violation of the laws of health does not always lead to acute disease. Seated in the office of a prominent and successful physician in a Western city one day, we were discussing with him the true nature of disease. "My patients," said he, "many of them are now lying on beds of pain, burning with fever. They are called sick people. The folks walking along the street out there are called well people. The terms are inaccurate. Fever is the effort of nature to throw off poisons, poisons which have been accumulating in the system for years as the result of wrong ways of living. Many people suppose that fevers are caused by germs. This is not true. No germ can harm or disturb a healthy body. It is only when the body is depleted in vitality that its defenses come down and germs find a ready soil in which to propagate. People who have fevers, therefore, are only taking a violent manner of getting well, and, if wisely treated and intelligently nursed, they do get well. As you know, it is a very common experience for a person to feel far better after recovery from a spell of sickness than he has for years previously. Now, nine out of ten of the people going along the street who call themselves well are not well. The majority of them are probably only 25 per cent, efficient physically. They are loaded up with the debilitating consequences of their own recklessness or ignorant manner of living."
A PROLIFIC CAUSE OF INEFFICIENCY
In the same way, there are latent illnesses and inefficiencies in many commercial organizations which never reach the point of strikes and lockouts. For some reason or other that lively germ, the walking delegate, fails to get a foothold. Perhaps there would be a beneficial house cleaning if he did. Discontent, dissatisfaction, unrest, and constant changes in personnelload the body up with wastes, inefficiencies and unnecessary expenses. Any employer who thinks at all, and who has any basis for judgment as a result of observation, knows that what he desires to purchase, when he pays wages, is not a prescribed number of days and hours, is not a standard number of foot pounds of physical energy, but rather human intelligence and human willingness and enthusiasm in the use of that intelligence in his service. It is true that most employees do a certain amount of physical work, but it is also true that the value of that work depends entirely upon the amount of intelligence and good will the employee puts into it. The employee who is doing work for which he is not fitted and is unhappy and discontented is doubly inefficient. He is inefficient because he is not well fitted for the work and could not do his best even if he were perfectly satisfied and happy. And he is inefficient because he is in a bad psychical state. With his mental attitude, he could not do good work even if he were in the place for which he was best fitted.
Efficiency experts maintain that the average employee in our industrial and commercial institutions is only from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent, efficient. Sixty-five to seventy-five per cent, loss in productive power on the part of the forty million workers in this country constitutes an almost incalculable sum.
Who is to blame for this loss? Are we not too intelligent, too well versed in the laws of cause and effect and too courageous to try to blame the Almighty for it or to lay it to the public schools or to hold the employee accountable? As a matter of fact, no matter how we may try to shift the blame, those of us who are executives know only too well that our board of directors and stockholders hold us strictly responsible for results. What they want is dividends, not excuses. They do not care to hear how hard it is to find good men. They are not interested in the stories of employees who are so ungrateful as to leave just when they have become most useful. They will not permit you to shift any of the blame upon the shoulders of the employee. They expect you to use methods in selecting and assigning employees and handling them afterthey are selected that will yield the largest possible permanent results.
HIGH COST OF HIRING AND FIRING
Employers who will take the trouble to study their records for some years past, will, unless they are very exceptional, find that the average length of service in their organization is much shorter than they would be prepared to believe unless the actual figures were before them. We have the word of its manager in regard to a certain foundry in the Middle West that the average period of employment for any one man in that foundry is only 30 days. We know a large steel mill employing 8,000 where the average length of service per employee is a few days more than four months. These figures were given to us by the employment manager of the mill. The head of the employment department of a large electrical manufacturing company stated to us that the average length of service per employee for his organization was one year or a little less.
From "Current Affairs," Boston, we quote the following significant editorial:
"Do employers realize the waste and extravagance and actual money loss due to haphazard hiring and firing?
"Twelve typical factories were recently investigated as to their employment records by Mr. M.W. Alexander. He chose the normal industrial year of 1912. He chose representative factories, big and little, in several States. The results of this inquiry were reported in an address before the National Association of Manufacturers.
"Mr. Alexander found that this group of factories had 37,274 employees at the beginning of 1912, and 43,971 at the end of the year—a net increase of 6,697 workers. But the books showed that the factories had actually hired 43,571 new hands, 35,874 having been dropped during the year Of course, not all were fired. Some were absent because of sickness, some died, some left voluntarily; but these were only a small proportion. And the fact remains that in order to increase theirworking force by 6,697 these twelve industries had to break in 42,571 new employees and suffer the consequent extra expense of instruction cost, reduced production, and beginners' spoiled work. Making liberal discounts for the workers unavoidably withdrawn, it is estimated that these twelve factories suffered a definite money loss of more than $831,000 during the year on account of reckless hiring and firing.
"The conclusion seems justified: 'The highest grade of judgment in the hiring and discharging of employees is needed. The employment "clerk" of to-day will have to be replaced by the employment "superintendent" of to-morrow, not merely by changing the title and salary of the incumbent of the office, but by placing in charge of this important branch of management a man whose character, breadth of view, and capacity eminently qualify him for the discharge of these duties.'"
It is probable that most executives and employers do not know because they have not fully considered what this rapid ratio of change costs. This cost, of course, varies over a very wide range, according to the kind of work to be done and the class of employees. The sales manager of one organization told us that it cost his concern $3,000 to find, employ, train, and break-in to his work a new salesman. The employment manager of one of the largest corporations in the world in-forms us that it costs him $10,000 in actual money to replace the head of a department. The employment manager of a large factory employing people whose wages ran from $5 a week up, told us that the records of his department showed that it cost $70 to get the name of a departing employee off the payroll and to substitute thereon the name of a new permanent employee to take his place. But these are only costs that can be computed. There are other costs perhaps even greater, records of which never reach the accounting department or the employment department. Let us tell you a story:
A COMMONPLACE STORY
Joe Lathrop, foreman of the finishing room, had a bad headache. It had been along toward the cool, clear dawn of thatvery morning when, having tearfully assured Mrs. Lathrop for the twentieth time that he had taken but "one li'l' drink," he sobbed himself to sleep. His ears still range disconcertingly with the stinging echoes of his wife's all-too-frank and truthful portrayal of his character, disposition, parentage, and future prospects. His heart was still swollen and painful with the many things he would like to have said in reply had he not been deterred by valor's better part. It was a relief to him, therefore, to take advantage of his monarchical prerogatives in the finishing department and give vent to his hot and acrid feelings.
With all his flaying irony and blundering invective, however, Joe Lathrop never for a moment lost sight of the fact that there were some men upon the finishing floor whom it was far better for him to let alone. With all his truculence, he was too good a politician to lay his tongue to the man tagged with an invisible, but none the less protective, tag of a man higher up. And so Joe Lathrop let loose his vials of wrath upon those whose continuance upon the payroll depended upon merit alone. One of these was Robinson.
HATED FOR HIS EFFICIENCY
Robinson had been finishing piano frames upon this floor for twenty months. He was a young married man, in good health, ambitious, faithful, loyal, skilful, and efficient. He was a man who worked far more with his brains than with his hands. He understood the principles of piano construction, and was, therefore, no rule-of-thumb man. He had studied his work and, as a result, had continually increased both its quantity and quality Robinson was not self-assertive, perhaps a little taciturn, but there was something about him which made people respect him. Over the dinner pails at noon there had been many a conjecture on the part of Robinson's fellow-workers that he was in line for promotion and that he might be made assistant foreman at any time.
Joe Lathrop knew that Robinson's quiet efficiency and attention to business had not escaped the superintendent's eye.He felt that the day might come almost any time when, on account of his "just one li'l' drink," or its consequences, he might have to yield his scepter to the younger man.
DISCHARGED WITHOUT CAUSE
Along about nine o'clock of this particular morning, Lathrop was brow-beating one of the men for some fancied fault near the place where Robinson was working. Seeing Robinson quietly doing his work, paying no attention to the wrangle so near him, only further irritated the suffering foreman.
"Robinson," he yelled. "You have been here long enough to know better than this. What do you mean by standing there like a wooden post right beside this man and letting him make such a botch of these frames?"
Robinson, of course, being a wise man, kept his own counsel, and went on with his work. He could not acknowledge himself at fault when he was not at fault. His manhood revolted. His business was to concentrate upon his own work. Since he could not acknowledge the fault, he therefore said nothing. This, of course, was just what Lathrop did not want.
"Speak up," he bawled, "explain yourself."
"I have my own work to attend to, Mr. Lathrop, as you know," he said quietly.
"I'll have no back talk from you, you sulky dough-face," roared Lathrop. "Get to hell out of here. Go to the office and get your time."
Robinson knew better than to protest. He even hesitated to go to the superintendent, but finally decided to do so.
"It's a shame, Robinson," admitted the superintendent, "but Joe is an awfully good man when he is right, as you know, and as long as we keep him in our service we have to stand behind him in order to maintain discipline." And so Robinson walked out with half a week's pay in his pocket.
THE BEGINNING OF LOSSES
Let us estimate roughly what Joe Lathrop's "one li'l' drink" and his suspicious jealousy cost the piano company.
Of course, his first cost was the loss of time in the finishing room while Robinson's place stood empty. It is fair to suppose that the company was making some profit on Robinson. It, therefore, lost the profit of those two days. Besides this, the machinery and the equipment Robinson operated stood still for two days eating up, in the meantime, interest on investment, rental of floor space, depreciation, light, heat, and all other overhead charges that it ought to have been making products to pay. In addition to all the overhead charges, the machinery ought also to have been making a profit for the piano company.
But there were other losses. Robinson's absence disorganized the shop routine. There were delays, conflicts, piano parts piled up in one end of the room while other departments clamored for finished frames at the other end of the room. Then, at least one-half a day of Joe Lathrop's valuable time went to waste while he was out trying to find some one to fill Robinson's place. His first attempt was made at the gate of the factory, where the sea of the unemployed threw up its flotsam and jetsam. But finishing piano frames is rather a fine job and none of the willing and eager applicants there could fill the bill. Joe then made the round of two or three employment agencies who had helped him out in previous similar emergencies. This time, however, they seemed to be without resource, so far as he was concerned. Being in considerable perspiration and desperation by this time, he was probably gladder than he ought to have been to receive a summons to appear at the court of Terrence Mulvaney. Terrence, who sat in judgment in the back room of his own beverage emporium, the place where Lathrop secured his "li'l' drinks," had heard, in the usual wireless way, that there was a finisher needed at the big factory Lathrop still owed Terrence for a good many of his "li'l' drinks." Furthermore, Terrence, by virtue of some mysterious underground connection, pulled mysterious wires, so that an invitation from him was a command. For these reasons, also, Joe Lathrop found it discreet in his own eyes to engage on the spot Tim Murphy, avery dear friend of Mulvaney and, according to Mulvaney's own impartial testimony, a very worthy and deserving man.
BREAKING IN AN INCOMPETENT
Valuable hours and moments of the company's time were consumed in initiating Tim Murphy into the employ of the company. There were certain necessary processes in the paymaster's department, the accounting department, the liability department, the tool room, and the medical department.
Now, while Murphy had had some experience in finishing piano frames, he was utterly unfamiliar with the make of piano produced in this factory. Likewise, he was ignorant of the customs, rules, and individual methods which obtained in the factory. This meant that his employers paid him good wages for five or six weeks while he was finding his way around. It was good money spent without adequate return in the way of service. In fact, during these weeks, the company would probably have been better off without Tim Murphy than with him, for he spoiled a good deal of his work, took up a great deal of his foreman's time which ought to have been applied in other directions, broke and ruined a number of valuable tools and otherwise manifested those symptoms which so often mark the entrance into an organization of a man propelled by pull rather than push.
The trouble in Tim Murphy's corner continued to halt and disorganize the work in the department so that there were still further delays and losses up and down the line. All this was bad enough, but by the end of five weeks of Murphy's attachment to the payroll he had demonstrated that he was not only incapable, indolent, careless, and unreliable, but that he was a disorganizer, a gossip, and a trouble maker.
BAD EFFECT UPON OTHER EMPLOYEES
Finally the superintendent, who in some mysterious way had managed to escape the entanglement of underground wires running from Terrence Mulvaney's saloon, issued a direct, positive order to Foreman Lathrop, and Murphy's place inthat factory knew him no more. Nor was Murphy astonished or disappointed. He had been expecting this very thing to happen, and was prepared for it. So when he walked out, two skilful, but easily influenced companions, walked out with him. Thus Joe Lathrop had, added to one of his frequent early morning headaches, the serious trouble of trying to find three men to fill yawning vacancies. The company was faced with a new series of losses even greater than those which had followed the discharge of Robinson. Furthermore, there was trouble and disorganization among the men still remaining in the department. Every man there had liked and respected the competent young worker, Robinson. They all knew that he had been discharged largely because Joe Lathrop was jealous and somewhat afraid of him, and because Joe had had a bad headache and grouch. They resented the injustice. Their respect for their foreman dropped several degrees. Their interest in their work slackened. "What is the use," they thought, "to do our best when superior workmanship might get us thrown out of here instead of promoted?"
And so Joe Lathrop's series of "li'l' drinks" finally resulted in decreasing the efficiency of his department to such an extent that the superintendent was obliged to discharge him. Then the superintendent was in for it. He had to find a new man. He had to take the time and the trouble to break the new man in, and the company had to share the losses resulting from disorganization until the new foreman was installed.
This is not a fanciful story, but was told to us by a man who knew the superintendent, Joe Lathrop, Robinson, Terrence Mulvaney, and Tim Murphy. Nor is it an unusual story. Just such headaches, discharges, troubles, and losses are occurring every day in the industrial and commercial institutions of this country.
This story illustrates not only the high cost of constant change in personnel, but also the high cost of leaving the important matter of hiring and firing to foremen. Where this is done, discharges without cause, the selection of incompetents,grafting on the payroll, inside and outside politics, the indolent retention on the payroll of those who are unfit, and many other abuses too numerous to mention, are bound to follow.
ONLY ONE LEGITIMATE REASON FOR HIRING
There is only one legitimate reason for putting any man or woman on the payroll, namely, that he or she is well fitted to perform the tasks assigned, will perform them contentedly and happily and, therefore, be a valuable asset to the concern. But with foremen, superintendents, and other minor executives selecting employees, for any reason and every reason except the legitimate reason, it is small wonder that employees grow discontented and leave, are demoralized and incompetent so that they are discharged. For these reasons it is an unusual organization which does not turn over its entire working force every year. The average of the concerns we have investigated shows much more frequent turnover than this.
Under these circumstances, it should be easy to understand why our efficiency engineers and scientific management experts find the average organization only 25 per cent efficient. And this is not the only trouble we make for ourselves as the result of unscientific selection in the rank and file. In many cases we use no better judgment in the selection of even our highest and most responsible executives. If it is true, as has been so often stated, that a good general creates a good army and leads it to victory, and a poor general demoralizes and leads to defeat the finest and bravest army, then it is more disastrous for you to select one misfit executive than a thousand misfits for your rank and file.
In our next chapter we shall attempt to show some of the troubles which overtake a man who selects the wrong kind of executives.
The President and General Manager of a large manufacturing and sales company, who, for the purpose of the present narrative, shall be called Jessup, was making a trip from Chicago to New York on the Twentieth Century Limited. In the smoking room of his car he met a gentleman whose appearance and manner attracted him greatly. Acquaintanceship was a matter of course, mutual admiration followed swift upon its heels, and friendship soon began to crystallize in the association. As the train sped on through the night, the Big Executive became more and more delighted with his new-found acquaintance. The man agreed with him in many of his sentiments; belonged to the same political party; was a member of the same fraternal order; wore the same Greek letter society pin as his oldest son; and, what was, perhaps, more important, entertained what seemed to him intelligent, clean-cut, forceful, progressive ideas in regard to business.
As their talk proceeded, President Jessup found that the gentleman was a Mr. Lynch, advertising manager of a firm manufacturing jewelry, located in Providence, Rhode Island. He had been in this position for five years and during that time had planned, assisted in designing, and sold to a national market several profitable jewelry specialties. Lynch's graphic story of how these advertising campaigns had been planned, executed, and carried through to success fascinated the President of the western concern. To his mind, his own enterprise, the manufacture and sale of steam and hot-water heating plants, had long been in the doldrums. He himself had spent many sleepless nights trying to plan some way of extending its business; of opening up new markets; of creating a wide new patronage; of manufacturing something which would bring in more profits than their regular line, and finding a successfulsale for it. It now seemed to him that he had found just the man to assist him in carrying out these vaguely formed plans, which as yet were little more than dreams. He told Lynch something of his ideas and ideals, and, as the two men parted for the night, he said:
"I have just a glimmering of an idea, Mr. Lynch, that we might be able to make an arrangement whereby you would be greatly profited in increased opportunities and bigger income, and perhaps we also would reap an advantage in increased business. Think it over."
SELECTION BY PERSONAL PLEASURE
Long after he had retired, President Jessup pondered over the situation, and the more he pondered, the more he became convinced that he had found just the man he wanted. True, he had not had in mind, during any of his midnight vigils, the taking on of any new help—his payroll was already heavy enough. He had a good advertising manager and a good sales manager, men who were competent to take care of the business of the concern. In response to their efforts, patronage was growing, not rapidly and spectacularly, yet steadily and substantially. Now, however, he saw an opportunity to produce something which would be different enough from the product of any of his competitors to warrant him in undertaking a national advertising campaign. Up to the present he had had only a local business. A few hundred miles from his factory in all directions could be found all the heating plants which he had manufactured and sold. His dream was to produce some special form of apparatus which would sell wherever there were homes, stores, offices, churches, theaters, and schools to be warmed. Mr. Lynch was just the man to study their business carefully, decide upon some such product, help to design it, and plan and execute the national advertising campaign which would develop a local into a national business. Jessup dropped to sleep with his mind made up.
Next morning, as the train sped along between the Catskills and the Hudson, the two men, over the breakfast table, begannegotiations. Jessup was surprised, and somewhat disappointed to find what a large salary his new friend was drawing in Providence. He was still more surprised and disappointed to find that Lynch's future prospects in the jewelry business were so bright that it would take a considerably larger salary to entice him away. The Westerner's mind, however, was made up and the future profits he saw arising from a national business were so attractive that he finally threw aside caution and offered Lynch twelve thousand five hundred dollars a year and moving expenses to the western city where his factory was located. This offer was finally accepted, the two men shook hands, and arrangements were made for Lynch to report for duty in the West within thirty days.
THE NEW MAN IN A QUANDARY
Now, President Jessup had no intention of dismissing his advertising manager and his sales manager. Each knew the business from beginning to end; each was thoroughly familiar with the trade already built up and personally acquainted with many dealers who handled the products, and could be depended upon not only to hold the present trade, but to increase it. Therefore it seemed good judgment to retain these two men on the local trade while turning Lynch loose upon the campaign for the securing of a national market. So it was decided to retain both of the old men and to give the newcomer the title of sales promotion manager. There were some heart-burnings on the part of those already in the office when the new man came in and took charge. It was not pleasant for men who had been with the business for years and served it faithfully and helped to build it up, to have a man placed over them who knew nothing about it and whose salary was more than their two salaries combined. However, Lynch's personality was so pleasant and he was so tactful and agreeable that this little feeling of inharmony seemed soon to disappear. Presently all were working together in the happiest possible way toward the inauguration of the new policy of the concern.
As time went on, however, Lynch began to show signs of restlessness and uneasiness. Being a man of keen, alert mind and quick intelligence, he had quickly grasped the fundamentals of the heating business. He was soon able to talk with the firm's designers and engineers in their own language. But the more he studied boilers and radiators, the less interest he took in them. He had sense enough to know that the only thing that would win in the plan he had in mind was a radical change in design which would increase the amount of heat delivered in proportion to the amount of fuel burned, or the amount of heat delivered in proportion to the cost of fuel burned, or would reduce the amount of supervision required, or would do away with some of the long-standing sources of trouble and annoyance in heating apparatus. Long and hard he thought and conjectured, and studied statistics, and followed reports of experiments, but for the life of him he could not take any interest in any such line of research. He hated the gases, ashes, soot, smoke, and dirt generally. Huge rough castings of steel and iron seemed gross and ugly to him, and the completed product seemed coarse and unfinished. The only improvements he could think of were improvements in beauty of line, in refinement of the design, in added ornamentation, and other enhancements of the physical appearance of the product. In these he took some interest, but he had the good sense to know that no change of this kind would accomplish what they wished in the matter of going after a national market.
THE HIGH-SALARIED ONE FAILS
For a while President Jessup waited patiently; then, as the big salary checks came to him to be signed month after month, he began to grow restless. No result had yet been announced and in his conferences with Lynch, he could not determine that any hopeful progress was being made. Finally, in desperation, he called his engineers and designers together. For three weeks he worked with them night and day, studying, analyzing, making records, and computing results. They tookcat-naps on benches in the laboratory while waiting for fires to burn a standard number of hours; ate out of lunch-boxes; and finally, unshaven and covered with soot and ashes, they triumphantly produced a fire-box and boiler which would burn the cheapest kind of coal screenings satisfactorily, with but little supervision and a high degree of efficiency. This was the best thing they had ever done in the laboratory. This was the attainment which he had so long desired. This, properly advertised and handled, certainly ought to revolutionize the steam and hot-water heating business. But it was not one of Lynch's brain-children. However, Lynch would now have an opportunity to prove his value and return to the concern large profits for the amount they had spent and would spend upon him. At any rate, he knew how to plan and conduct an advertising and selling campaign.
Lynch, intensely relieved by the solving of this problem, the utility of which he very readily saw, threw himself, heart and soul, into the construction of the advertising campaign. As this work progressed, Jessup began to have some misgivings. While the advertisements, circulars, catalogues, and other literature were beautiful; while the English in them was elegant, and the form of expression refined, somehow or other, they seemed to lack the necessary punch or kick which Jessup knew they ought to have. The two big things about the new product were, first, economy of fuel; second, ease of operation and small demand for supervision. These points were not brought out clearly enough. They did not grip. They did not get home as they should. There was a good deal of talk in all the advertising about the beauty of the new apparatus; about the refinement of its finish; about its workmanship, and many other things which, to Jessup's mind, detracted from the main issue. The one thing he wanted to hammer into the minds of the readers of his advertising was the fact that here was a heating apparatus for which fuel could be purchased in the usual quantities and at half the regular price. What he wanted to do was to make them actually see the dollars and cents saved, not only in fuel, but also inthe cost of operation. He wanted suburbanites to see the fact that they could attend to their furnaces each morning before going to town, and that the fires would not need any further attention until the following morning; but, somehow or other, the advertising did not seem to picture this clearly enough. The statements were made, yes; there was plenty of evidence produced to show this; but it was done in a way which, somehow or other, did not produce an intense conviction.
Jessup had secured from his board of directors an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars for a national advertising campaign. Upon the result of his first attempt would depend his securing a further appropriation for such a campaign as he had planned and as he wanted to execute. This being the case, he did not feel that he was justified in permitting Lynch's advertising to go out as it was. The result was that, just before the time came when copy must be sent to the magazines, newspapers, and street-car advertising companies, Jessup called his old advertising manager into conference and for a week they struggled together, revising the copy, rewriting the selling argument, and placing emphasis in clear, strong, unforgetable figures where it would do the most good.
WHY THE "GREAT FIND" WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT
The result of all this was that Lynch, seeing the writing on the wall, tendered his resignation—which was all too gladly accepted. In offering his resignation, however, Lynch had stipulated that he was to receive four thousand dollars out of the six thousand five hundred still due him on his year's contract. President Jessup's error in selecting an employee had cost him ten thousand dollars in salary. Besides this was the still larger sum in expenses, in wasted effort, and in the disorganization of his entire factory and selling force as the result of the introduction of a man who did not belong there.
His mistake was due to two fundamental errors. In the first place, the facts that a man is personally agreeable, that he belongs to the same political party, that he belongs to the same lodge or fraternity, that his ideas and opinion onmatters outside of business agree with his employer's, are merely incidental and by no means adequate reasons for employing him. Nor is the fact that he has made a good record, even an extraordinary record, in some other line of business a good reason for employing him. Perhaps, on the other hand, the fact that his record is made in a totally different business is a good reason for not employing him. It certainly was so in this case.
In the second place, President Jessup did not take into consideration the natural aptitudes of his man, natural aptitudes which he might very easily have determined with a moment's casual observation. Lynch was exceedingly fine in texture; his hair, his skin, his features, his hands, and his feet were all fine and delicate. He, therefore, loved beauty, refinement, small articles, fine lines, elegant designs. These things appealed to him strongly, and because of this he was able to make them appeal to others. Anything which was heavy, rough, coarse, crude, uncouth, or ugly repelled him. He could not take an interest in it except in the most theoretical way. For this reason he could not interest others in it. He had an unusual knack for selling things to people which would appeal to their love of the beautiful and their desire for adornment; in short, to their vanity; but he had no qualifications for selling to people on a purely commercial basis, and especially selling something which was so matter-of-fact and commonplace in its character as the saving of coal and the freedom from necessity of frequent attention.
A WEAK MAN AND HIS TEMPTATION
In the winter of 1914-1915, the people of New York were shocked at the downfall of a man who had held a very high social, church, and business position. He had a wife and two or three beautiful children; he occupied a very prominent place in church and Sunday-school; he was well connected socially; he was a prominent member of one of the more popular secret fraternal organizations; he had a good position at a large salary, and enjoyed the complete confidence andrespect of his employers and business associates. Like a bolt out of a clear sky, therefore, came the revelation that he had robbed his employers of more than a hundred thousand dollars. This money he had lost in speculation.
It was the old, old story. He had begun speculating with his own reserve; this was quickly wiped out. Then, in order to win back what he had lost, he had begun to borrow, little by little from his employer. He would win for a little while; then he would lose, and, as a result, would have to borrow more in an attempt to make good his losses and repay what he had borrowed.
This man's employers had to make good a loss of about one hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars. In addition to this, they lost time, money, service, energy, and physical well-being because of the upset in their business and the bitter disappointment to them in the defalcation of their trusted employee. They also spent money tracing him in his flight and bringing him back to face trial and receive his penalty. More money was spent trying to discover whether he had concealed any of the funds he had stolen, so that they might be recovered. All of this might have been saved and the man himself, perhaps, might have been protected from the fate which overtook him, if, instead of judging him by his church record and his pleasing personal appearance and manner, they had taken the trouble to learn something about the external evidences of weaknesses which this man possessed in such a marked degree.
WHY HE GAMBLED AND STOLE
If they had learned some very simple principles, they would have been able to determine at a glance at his curly blond hair; by his secretively veiled eyes; by his large, somewhat fleshy nose, not particularly high in the bridge; by the weakness and looseness of his mouth, and the small and retreating contour of his chin, and by other important indications, that he was selfish by nature, grasping, extravagant, too hopeful, too optimistic, too fond of money, too self-indulgent; that he lacked conscientiousness; that he lacked caution; that helacked foresight; that he lacked any very keen sense of distinction between what was his and what belonged to others; that he lacked firmness, decision, self-control, will-power. Notwithstanding his lack of all these things, he had made a success for himself, up to the time of his defalcation, by means of a keen, penetrating intellect, excellent powers of expression, the ability to make himself agreeable, ease in mingling with strangers, a natural talent for piety and pious profession, and considerable financial and commercial shrewdness.
A man of this type is nearly always a gambler if he has an opportunity; but he ought to be placed in a position where there will be no temptation to him to rob others to satisfy his gambling proclivities. He is one of the last men in the world who ought to be placed in a position of responsibility, trust, and confidence. For the protection of others and for protection against himself, he ought to be under the most careful supervision. His intellectual powers, his suavity, his ability to meet and handle strangers, his commercial and financial shrewdness, ought all to be given full scope by his employers, but any opportunity to handle money or help himself to the funds of others should be carefully shut away from him.
AN ENGINE WITHOUT A BALANCE WHEEL
Some years ago we had an opportunity to look into the affairs of a mail-order house which had just failed for a large sum, so that its creditors, in the final adjustment, received about eleven cents on a dollar for their claims. The business had been established by a capitalist of considerable wealth, who had made his money in an entirely different line. For some years it was operated in a conservative way by a man who had had years of experience in the mail-order business. The man was well along in years and rather old-fashioned in his ideas. While his management was safe and sane, it had not produced a very large return upon the capital investment. For this reason, the owner determined to engage, as advertising manager, a young man who had several years' successfulexperience in advertising, but no first-hand knowledge of the mail-order business. The young man did brilliant work. The business of the house began to grow, dividends began to come in, and the owner was delighted. But the new advertising manager and the old general manager did not get along well together. The young man was progressive, optimistic, had ideas of expansion and growth, while the old man was conservative, careful, and somewhat out of date in his ideas as to business.
There could be no result of such a combination except the final resignation of the old general manager. This was only too gladly accepted, and the young man who had come in as advertising manager was placed in full charge. Following his appointment there was a period of rapid expansion. Many new lines were added; the concern rented two more floors in the building where it was located, and eventually purchased ground and built a fine new building. The payroll doubled, then trebled, then quadrupled. All these things, of course, took more capital, and the owner was compelled to add many thousands of dollars to his original investment, first, for permanent improvement; then, from time to time, for working capital. He was glad to do this, because the business was growing. There seemed to be every prospect that in the near future there would be profits far in excess of anything the owner had ever dreamed of under the old management.
SUPERSTRUCTURE WITHOUT FOUNDATION
Then came a time when other ventures of the owner compelled the use of all of his spare capital. He could no longer add to the funds invested in his mail-order business. He called his new general manager in and said: "I have put a great deal of money into this mail-order business. You have your beautiful new building; you have a goodly amount of working capital; you have expanded and added new lines; and I think the time has come when you ought to be able not only to run along without any more investment on my part, but very soon to show me a nice little profit. I assure you thatit will come in exceedingly handy in the new venture which I have undertaken."
"Oh, certainly," the young man said, "there is no doubt that we shall soon be paying you larger profits than any other enterprise you control, with the new business we have secured and the splendid profits on all lines we are now handling. There is no reason why we should need any more capital, and I do not think it will be very long before we will have repaid you in dividends for every penny of money you have recently put into the business."
And so the owner turned his back on his mail-order business and gave his time, thought, and energy to his other ventures. Reports, of course, reached him regularly, but he had full confidence in the manager, and he was very busy, so he paid but little attention to them.
THE INEVITABLE COLLAPSE
A little more than a year had passed when the capitalist was profoundly astonished and dismayed to have one of his best business friends call upon him and request: "Charlie, I wish you could do something for me on that account. It's long past due and it's getting altogether too large for me to carry as business is now."
"Why, what account is that? I didn't know I owed you a cent."
"Why, for that mail-order business of yours. They've been ordering goods from me for over a year now, and what they have ordered during the last six months has not been paid for. I knew that you were good, of course, and so was perfectly willing to extend the credit. But you know, as a businessman, that there is a limit to such things, and I think it has about been reached. I hope you can take care of it immediately, as I can very readily use the funds."
"Why, how much is this wretched account of mine, Will? I didn't know I owed you a cent. It can't be very much."
"Well, it all depends upon what you call very much. It's something like thirty-five thousand dollars."
"Thirty-five thousand dollars! Why, man, you must be dreaming," and the capitalist turned to his telephone and called up the general manager of his mail-order business.
"Why, yes," came back the cheerful, confident tone of the optimistic young manager, "we do owe them around thirty-five thousand, I think. I supposed, of course, you knew all about it. I've been sending my reports in every week."
"But why haven't you paid it? Certainly your sales are big enough and your income from them good enough for you to pay your bills."
"Well, I'll tell you; it is taking us just a little longer for us to get on our feet than I had expected. Then, after your decision not to put any more money into the business, I found it necessary, in order to round out and complete our line, to add some new items which cost us quite a little. But we are in good shape now and the sales are increasing. We shall soon be able to take care of all of our outstanding obligations."
"How much are your outstanding obligations?" asked the capitalist, with a sinking heart.
"Well, about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, I should say. But it won't take us long to clean that up now that we've squared away."
"You'd better come right over here and bring your books with you. I want to go into this thing."
WHY HE FAILED
It took only a few hours' investigation of the books to convince the capitalist that his mail-order business was hopelessly insolvent. It took expert accountants to find out why it was insolvent. The trouble was that the young manager had proceeded with only the vaguest and roughest kind of an estimate of cost, based, not upon facts, but mostly upon his own superb guesswork. New business had been brought in by reducing prices. "Low prices" had been one of the slogans of the young man's campaign, and he had cut under all of his competitors. On the other hand, there had been the slackest kind of management inside. Overhead expenses hadmounted and mounted. The young man had been altogether too easy and generous in fixing salaries, granting promotions and increases, and in giving positions to those who applied. He was really a splendid young fellow, with a sympathetic heart and a generous hand, and it was very difficult for him to turn away anyone who could tell an artistic hard-luck story. Expensive equipment had been purchased which had far greater capacity than the needs of the business required; therefore, many machines and other fixtures had stood idle seventy-five per cent of the time, eating up money in interest charges, depreciation, space, light, heat, and other expenses. In addition to these out-and-out expenditures, there were dozens of little leaks in all the departments of the business, all busily draining away not only possible profits, but the working capital, and, finally, the limit of the concern's credit.
As a result of this kind of management, the final accounting showed the liabilities of the concern to be in the neighborhood of four hundred thousand dollars and its assets only about forty-five thousand. No one could be found to take the business, even as a gift, and assume its obligations. The owner himself had his capital so tightly involved in other ventures that he was unable to save this concern, and it was therefore sold under the hammer. The creditors received their little eleven cents on the dollar. The owner's capital investment was, of course, a total and complete loss.
This man made his mistake in placing a business in which there is a multitude of detail and a necessity for the closest possible scrutiny of every cent of expenditure—a business which must be done upon the smallest possible margin in order to be successful—in the hands of a man who could look only outward and forward and upward. The young man was, indeed, a splendid business getter. He was a natural-born advertiser, salesman, and promoter. His personality was forceful, pleasing, and magnetic. In his intentions and principles he was honest and highly honorable. He was keen, positive, quick in thought, quick in action, progressive, eager, buoyant;he had a splendid grasp of large affairs, principles, and generalities. But he had no mind for details; he rather scorned them. He was perfectly willing to leave the details to someone else, and even then did not care to hear any more about them himself. He never ought to have been placed in charge of a business involving such minute carefulness as the mail-order business. He was dangerous in any position of responsibility without a partner or an auditor and treasurer competent to look after the finances and all of the details of the accounting and administration. This young man's function was getting in the business, but he was not equipped by nature or by training to take care of the business after it came into the house or to administer the funds which came in with it. The capitalist would have known, if he had exercised one-half the care in choosing a general manager that he did in selecting a driving horse, that the young man was unfitted for the work he was expected to do.
A COMMON TYPE
He would have known that anyone as blonde in coloring and as round-headed as this young man was unfit for a position which required the minutest and most careful scrutiny of every detail of administration. He would also have noticed his wide-open, credulous, and generous eye; the narrowness of his head just behind the ears, indicating his inclination to side-step anything in the nature of a disagreeable contest or combat. The high dome of his head just above the temple and the turned up tip of his nose, both indicating extreme optimism; his very short fingers, indicating dislike of detail and the inability to handle it; his rather soft-elastic consistency of hand, showing inability to bear down hard and firm in cutting expenses and holding down salaries.
This young man's type is very common. We meet it constantly in business, and wherever we have met it, we have always found that, unless it was associated with a man of dark complexion, hard consistency, keen, shrewd eyes, the ability to fight and to stick, a sort of bull-dog tenacity, it simplyran away in over-optimistic ventures, dissipated its earnings, and ended in dismal failure.
ROOSEVELT AND TAFT CONTRASTED
When Mr. Roosevelt was about to end his term as President of the United States in 1907, he and his more prudent advisors did not consider it good political judgment for him to seek at that time nomination for what would have been, in effect, a third term. He therefore began to cast about to find a successor who would carry out his policies. As President, he had inaugurated certain policies of administration which he regarded as being of the highest possible importance to the country, and to the world at large. We are not here discussing the common sense, wisdom, and statesmanship of those policies. The fact to which we are calling attention is that Mr. Roosevelt wished to use his influence as President and as the leader of his party to have placed in nomination, as his successor, a man upon whom he could rely to continue to administer the office of President according to the policies he himself had inaugurated.
Mr. Taft had long been a member of Mr. Roosevelt's cabinet and had also been a very close personal friend. As Governor of the Philippines, and as Secretary of War, he had made a splendid record and was considered to be one of the most loyal and able of the President's official family. Accordingly, he was selected by Mr. Roosevelt as his successor. In his campaign for election, and in his inaugural address, Mr. Taft repeatedly gave assurance to the voters that it was his intention to carry out the Roosevelt policies. There is practically no one, even those who disapprove most heartily of Mr. Taft's record in the Presidency, who thinks that he was anything but sincere and honest in making these promises to the voters.
HOW IT WORKED OUT
Now, without discussing for a moment Mr. Taft's administration as President from the standpoint of its true value tothe country, or the actual quality of his statesmanship, there is no question in the mind of anyone that he signally failed to carry out the Roosevelt policies. In fact, he became the titular leader of that faction of the Republican party, before the end of his administration, most violently opposed to the Roosevelt policies. He has subscribed to and preached a totally different political doctrine from that of his former friend and chief ever since. This course of action may have been right; it may have been wrong; it may have been wise, or it may have been unwise. It may have been fully justified, or it may not have been justified. These are not questions which interest us here.
The point is that Mr. Roosevelt, in all good faith, and believing in the wisdom of his choice, selected Mr. Taft to carry out his policies in the government, and that Mr. Taft, no doubt with the best of intentions, failed to carry out those policies. The result was a split in the Republican party, the election of a Democratic President and Congress, and other far-reaching consequences, the full meaning of which we have not yet begun to see. They may be good; they may be unfortunate. That is not the question at issue. The question is, could Mr. Roosevelt, if he had had a scientific understanding of human nature, have foretold Mr. Taft's course of action?
INDICATIONS OF DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTER, IDEAS, IDEALS, AND ACTIONS
The Roosevelt policies were aggressive and bold, cutting across traditions, flinging down the gauntlet, and throwing defiance into the faces of powerful political and business interests. They assumed for the executive office at least all of the powers which, according to the Constitution, belong to it, working in harmony with a group of men who had interested themselves in a number of progressive—perhaps some might say radical—reform measures. Furthermore, these policies were a perfectly natural expression of Mr. Roosevelt's personality.
Do Mr. Taft's physical characteristics, as easily observableindicate that he is of a character, temperament and aptitude to continue such policies as these. A comparison of the two men should give us the answer.
Mr. Taft is very much lighter in color than Mr. Roosevelt. As a general rule, the lighter blond coloring is an indication of mildness of disposition, instead of the fierceness and eager determination to dominate of the man who is as ruddy as Mr. Roosevelt.
Mr. Taft's forehead is very much more practical in type than Mr. Roosevelt's. He is, therefore, far more interested in the practical application of such principles as he has than in theories, hypotheses, and reform.
Mr. Taft's nose, by its roundness and softness of contour, indicates mildness, good nature, refinement, and delicacy of feeling, while Mr. Roosevelt's is the large-tipped, bony-bridged nose of aggressiveness and combativeness.
Mr. Taft's mouth is a good-natured, smiling, laughing, jovial mouth, instead of the grim, hard, fighting mouth as shown in Mr. Roosevelt's type.
Mr. Taft's chin is of the rounded and rather retreating type, an indication that he is probably far better qualified by disposition to follow a strong and aggressive leader than to take the aggressive, dominating, fighting leadership himself.
Mr. Taft is a very much larger man than Mr. Roosevelt. This, while not particularly important, is just one more indication of his good nature and his dislike for a hard, grueling fight. It is an interesting fact that almost all of the great fighters of the world have been little men. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Grant, Lord Roberts, Sheridan, Sherman, Wilhelm II, and many others have been below medium in stature. Of the others, Kitchener, Wellington, Frederick the Great, Washington, and von Hindenberg have been men of not more than medium size. It is almost unprecedented to find a fighter in a man of Mr. Taft's huge size.
In structure, Mr. Taft is essentially of the judicial type. This type is always a defender of property, an upholder of the Constitution, a strong advocate of making the best ofthings as they are, rather than plunging into violent innovations, the results of which are unknown and may very easily prove to be disastrous. On the other hand, Mr. Roosevelt is of restless, active, pioneering structure—the bony, muscular type of man who has always led reform movements and led in fighting for changes he thought would add to the freedom of humanity.
Mr. Taft's texture is finer than that of Mr. Roosevelt. He is, therefore, more interested in the refinements, the luxuries, and the delicacies of life than is Mr. Roosevelt. He is also less vigorous, less virile, and less insistent upon reform and the right of the people to rule. It is an interesting fact that most of the great friends of the people, most of those who are eager in demanding the rights of the proletariat, are men of medium or coarse texture.
Mr. Taft is soft elastic in consistency of fiber, while Mr. Roosevelt is hard elastic. This indicates more impressionability or amenability to influence, more desire for finding an easy and pleasant way to accomplish his end on the part of Mr. Taft than on the part of Mr. Roosevelt.
In Mr. Taft the vital element leads—in Mr. Roosevelt, the motive. The vital element conduces to putting on of flesh, enjoys the good things of life, loves an easy time, and naturally inclines to make the best of things as they are. On the other hand, the motive element demands outdoor activity, freedom, liberty of movement, and not only liberty for itself, but liberty for everyone else.
Mr. Roosevelt's jaw is square and determined, which shows an inclination to push things through regardless of obstacles; to pursue his ends no matter what difficulties stand in the way. Mr. Taft's jaw is rather rounded and not so prominent. This indicates less determination, less perseverance, less persistence in pushing against obstacles and difficulties.
Note the difference in width between Mr. Roosevelt's and Mr. Taft's head just above the ears. Mr. Roosevelt is very wide-headed. This indicates energy, aggressiveness, impatience, a certain amount of destructive tendency. It is thiswhich not only makes Mr. Roosevelt an aggressive, eager, fighting, dominating politician and statesman, but also a mighty hunter.
On the other hand, Mr. Taft's head is medium narrow just above the ears. This indicates mildness, an inclination to use diplomacy rather than force, and a tendency to take things as they are rather than to push ahead aggressively and make radical changes.
Mr. Roosevelt's head is high in the crown. Mr. Taft's head is low in the crown. A high crown indicates firmness, decision, love of power, love of authority, a demand to rule, and great ambition. A low crown, on the other hand, indicates amenability to authority, a willingness to compromise, and a lack of domineering quality.
Compare the expression of the two men. Mr. Roosevelt's expression is intense, vigorous, and almost belligerent. Mr. Taft's expression is mild, calm, judicial, good-natured, and jovial.
By what stretch of the imagination could anyone suppose that a man of Mr. Taft's character and aptitudes, as shown by the indications pointed out in the foregoing, could even begin to carry out the policies of a man of Mr. Roosevelt's character, as shown by the indications we have pointed out? And yet, all of the political history of the United States since 1909 has been completely changed as the result of Mr. Roosevelt's lack of knowledge of the plain facts of the science of human nature. Indeed, the result of Mr. Roosevelt's choice of a successor is found in Mexico, in Germany, in England, in France, and, in fact, throughout the world.
IF NOT SCIENTIFICALLY, HOW?
Woodrow Wilson has been criticized, perhaps, as severely for his selection of men for various posts in his administration as for any other cause, if reports are to be believed. He has probably suffered far more from unfortunate selection of lieutenants and of men for special tasks, and has more deeply regretted his mistakes of this nature, than any other thing inhis administration up to the time that these lines are written.
The few examples we have given in this chapter of men who gave excellent promise and then failed to live up to their expectations are typical. They are occurring every day in every line of business and industry, as well as in politics and government. We are told by some who have made a study of this subject that the only way to find out what a man can do, what his aptitudes are, what are his abilities, his capacities, his type, and what his performances will be, is to put him in a place where he will have an opportunity to show what there is in him. If this is the best that science can do for us, we are, then, groping in darkness through a tangled maze of pitfalls. We have nothing left but to go on using disastrous and impracticable methods in the selection of men for commerce, for industry, for financial responsibility, and for the highest positions of honor, responsibility, and power in the gift of the people.