The Importance of Better Driving

[MikeSommers]

THE WAY I HEARD IT

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BETTER DRIVING
Back in May 1932, a sixty-one-year-old handyman named John Thompson was tinkering in his garage when he had himself a Eureka moment-a self-centered idea that would virtually eliminate bad driving. In those days, bad driving was commonplace, and US auto- makers weren't sure what to do about it. But Thompson believed the problem had less to do with bad drivers and more to do with the obstacles they encountered-specifically, recessed gullies, intricate curves, and flat horizontal planes. His idea would promote better driving by eliminating those obstacles.

Six months later, he had a gleaming prototype in his garage, ready for action. Six months after that, Patent no. 1,080,080 arrived in the US mail, making him the sole owner of the device that would virtually eliminate bad driving. All he needed now was someone to mass-produce it.

John traveled all over the United States looking for a manufacturing partner. He visited dozens of factories and presented his prototype to countless engineers. The reaction was always the same: "Great idea, Mr. Thompson. But no, thanks."

After two years of "no," John grew discouraged. He'd never tried to sell anything before, and the rejections were demoralizing. He made his last pitch in a conference room full of engineers at a manufacturing facility in Oregon.

"Good morning, Mr. Thompson. We're intrigued by your design. The cruciform, the conical helix, and the self-centering aspect are most innovative. But please explain to us how such a thing can be mass-produced."

"Well," John said with a nervous laugh, "I was hoping that's what you fellas could tell me."

The engineers said nothing, so John plunged in. He talked about the fundamental problem-the frequency with which drivers wound up getting stuck-and the inevitable damage that followed when they continued to accelerate. Then he explained how his device would solve the problem by ejecting the driver before the moment of impact. When he was done, the engineers all agreed: his idea was brilliant but simply too hard to mass-produce. In other words, “No, thanks."

Later that evening, belly to the bar, John was staring at the diagrams on the wrinkled pages of his worthless patent when a man with white teeth and perfect hair struck up a conversation.

"Don't take it so hard, friend. A 'no' is just a 'yes' to a different question!"

"Spare me the platitudes," John said. "I know what a 'no' means. I hear it every day."

The man's name was Henry. He grinned, pulled up a stool, and ordered a fresh round of drinks. "What exactly are you trying to sell?"
John handed Henry his patent. Henry didn't understand all the details, but he knew the importance of better driving. He offered to buy one more round. Then he offered to buy John's idea for a handful of cash. John agreed, and after that, things happened fast.

Henry returned to the company that had just rejected John’s idea and asked to see the president, a man named Eugene Clark. “oh, no,” said the secretary. “Not without an appointment.”

But Clark’s secretary didn’t understand that a “no” was just a “yes” to another question. Henry smiled his charming smile and showed her the patent he’d bought. ”This idea is going to eliminate driver error," he said. "I can show it to a competitor, but wouldn't you rather show it to the boss yourself?"

The secretary looked at the patent. Like Henry, she didn't understand all the details but knew the importance of better driving. She showed the patent to her boss, and soon Henry was sitting across from the president of the company, stretching the truth a bit and posing additional questions that could be answered only in the affirmative.

"Mr. Clark, I just heard from General Motors. They want millions of these things. Your engineers say it can't be done. Should I ask someone else to give it a try, or do you want to give it another shot?"

Clark picked up the phone and summoned his engineers back to the conference room. Once again the engineers examined the proto- type and said "No." They blamed the practical limits of a cold steel forge and the many challenges of scaling a product of this size. But the engineers didn't realize that a "no" was just a "yes" to another question. When Clark asked if they wanted to keep their jobs, they went back to the drawing board and did come up with a way to mass- produce Henry's prototype. At which point Henry flew to Detroit to persuade General Motors to place a massive order for a million devices that did not yet exist.

You can guess what happened next. Henry got a meeting with the president of General Motors and persuaded him to test the prototype. Driver performance improved dramatically, and General Motors offered to buy Henry's idea. But this time, it was Henry who said "No." Because Henry had no intention of selling his driving system to just anybody. He wanted to license it- to everybody.

Ultimately, General Motors ordered millions. Then Chrysler. Then Ford. Then the Department of Defense. Henry's patented technology wound up inside every new car on America's highways. Henry's bank account? That wound up packed with $65 million in today's dollars. And as for John Thompson?

He got screwed.

There's really no other way to put it. The aging handyman had been right all along. He knew the problem with bad driving had less to do with the drivers themselves and more to do with the obstacles they encountered. He was the one who replaced those troublesome gullies with a unique, tapered cruciform. He was the one who looked at those horizontal planes and saw what an ingenious conical helix could do. His patented Self-Centering Drive System solved the chronic problem of over-torqueing-by automatically ejecting drivers before they could cause any serious damage. Not human drivers. Mechanical drivers. That was the breakthrough that dramatically increased the speed and productivity of American assembly lines. But the breakthrough was not named for the man who invented or designed it. It was named for the man who bought it and sold it- over and over and over again.

A salesman who knew that a "no" was just a "yes" to a different question.

A guy named Henry, whose last name is still synonymous with the screw that made him rich and the screwdriver that made him famous... Phillips.

From the book, “The Way I Heard It”, By Mike Rowe, of ‘Dirty Jobs’ fame.

[John E. Guitar]

Interesting story.

[RVA23T]

Mike Rowe has a podcast and on many of them he narrates his " The Way I Heard It", talks to his mom and interviews various people from across the country. It's a fun listen!

[Rich P. Bingham]

A legend for our times ! Thanks for posting a very interesting story !
(I still immensely dislike Phillips screws. Go Roberson !! )

[Mark Gregush]

A legend for our times ! Thanks for posting a very interesting story !
(I still immensely dislike Phillips screws. Go Roberson !! )

Torx, even better!
Great story. Thanks