[2253] in Humor
HUMOR: The IBM story
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jonathon Weiss)
Fri Apr 3 01:31:53 1998
From: Jonathon Weiss <jweiss@MIT.EDU>
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 01:23:53 EST
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From: Joseph Sokol-Margolis <seph@MIT.EDU>
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Today's Honorary Subscriber is is Thomas J. Watson Sr. (1874-1956), the
legendary businessman who, with his son Tom Watson Jr., built IBM into one
of the greatest organizations of this century. One of his innovations was
the "IBM School House." In "Father Son & Son" (coauthored with Fortune
executive editor Peter Petre), Tom Watson Jr. wrote:
"The school's aim was to produce future officers of the company, and
Dad always talked to us trainees as if we were colleagues." Everything
about the school was meant to inspire loyalty, enthusiasm, and high =
ideals,
which IBM held out as the way to achieve success. The front door had the
motto 'THINK' written over it in two-foot-high brass letters. Just inside
was a granite staircase that was supposed to put students in an aspiring
frame of mind as they stepped up to the 's classes. Engraved on the =
risers
were the words:
THINK
OBSERVE
DISCUSS
LISTEN
READ
"In class the first thing we did each morning was to stand up and =
sing
IBM songs. We actually had a songbook, "Songs of the I.B.M.' It opened
with 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' and on the facing page was IBM's own
anthem, 'Ever Onward.' There were dozens of songs in praise of Dad or =
other
executives, set to tunes everybody knew. One of my favorites was to Fred
Nichol... Making rousing speeches in praise of my father was one of =
Nichol's
specialties, and his success showed how far loyalty could carry a man at
IBM. The song was sung to the tune of 'Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are
Marching':
V.P. Nichol is a leader,
Working for the I.B.M.
Years ago he started low
Up the ladder he did go
What an inspiration he is to our men!
"A lot of outsiders thought our singing custom was odd, but the man =
in
charge of our class didn't make a big deal out of it. He said, 'We have
these company songs. We think they build morale. Here is the way they =
go.
Mr. Flaherty here at the piano will sing it through for you first and then
you'll all sing it.'
"The teachers were veteran company men, all dressed, as we were, in
regulation IBM clothes -- dark business suits and white shirts with stiff
collars. Dad believed that if you wanted to sell to a businessman, you =
had
to look like one. There was a big picture of Dad looking watchful on the
wall behind the lectern. The rest of the classroom was decorated with his
slogans, and, as in every office of IBM, there was a 'THINK' sign
prominently displayed. Magazine cartoonists used to make fun of these
signs, and IBM's critics thought they were ridiculous: how could anybody
really *think* in a company that was such a one-man show? But to =
everybody
inside, the message was crystal clear: you would sell more machines, and
advance faster, if you used your head.
"I used to marvel at how willingly new employees embraced the company
spirit. As far as I could tell, nobody made fun of the slogans and songs.
Times were different then, and I suppose being earnest didn't seem as =
corny
in 1937 as it does today. And, of course, jobs were awfully hard to come =
by
in the 1930s, so people would put up with a lot. As for me, I was pretty
used to the IBM culture because I'd grown up at the source. It only
bothered me when Dad let things get out of hand -- as in 1936, when he
commissioned an IBM *symphony*." =20
written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017
Technical support for distributing Edupage is provided by Information
Technology Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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