In our creativity keynote presentation “Tennis Shoes & Blue Jeans” (Back-to-the-Basics Approach to Creativity and Innovation),we share an interesting anecdote that decisively confirms the point that creative ideas aren’t always original.
Each and every person reading this article has been the benefactor of two very creative minds who knew how to borrow, tweak and succeed in such successful ways that the entire world has been impacted. Sadly, far too few people are aware of these historically documented facts.
Many are aware of the fact that Henry Ford developed the “assembly line” and, in doing so, changed the face of manufacturing forever. Or did he? It’s true that Henry developed the automobile assembly line, but where did his idea actually come from? You may be surprised.
The honorable Mr. Ford never hid the fact that his inspiration for assembly-line production came from a visit he made as a young man to a Chicago slaughterhouse! In his autobiography, My Life and Work (1922), Ford revealed that he studied the stock-yards “disassembly line” and simply reversed the procedure. Chicago packers used an overhead trolley in the process of dressing beef. Watching this activity led Ford to the division-of-labor principle he would later adopt to produce automobiles.
The slaughtered animals, suspended upside down from a moving chain, or conveyor, would pass from workman to workman, each of whom would perform some particular step in the process. The workmen were forced to conform to the pace and requirements set by the assembly line itself, producing a higher level of quality, more continuity, and a reduction in the time required to complete the process. If it worked with carcasses, it could work with cars. The rest is history.
Let’s fast forward from 1908 to 1959. A man by the name of Berry Gordy, working on the production line at Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, borrows this novel concept to create a proven method of producing hit music as well as hit stars.
Gordy founded Motown Records in a very modest wood-frame house in the middle class residential neighborhood in mid-town Detroit. He lived upstairs and converted the garage into a studio and called it “Hitsville, USA.” Today that same house is now a Motown museum.
Note the similarities between the Ford assembly line and the Magic of Motown music:
- All the songs were written in standardized format by a team of in-house songwriters.
- The same in-house band, The Funk Brothers, provided the same distinctive Motown rhythm for every hit.
- The same choreographers familiarized every artist with the characteristic Motown dance moves.
- The skilled team of make-up artists created the same Motown look for each performer.
- The same wardrobe staff made certain that every performer hit the stage in that very unique Motown finery.
Whether we realized it or not, as an audience, we had that very comfortable feeling of deja vu every time a Motown performer graced the stage. Little did we know that feeling had been engineered as precisely as Ford Mustang. As Ford produced its classic car models, Motown, too, created classics that will live on in the hearts of music lovers forever … The Supremes, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Martha & the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Diane Ross, Mary Wells, Stevie Wonder, The Contours, The Marvelettes, The Ruffin Brothers (Jimmy and David), The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Jackson Five, The Commodores, Lionel Richie, and the list goes on and on.
Henry Ford borrowed from the meat-packers. Berry Gordy borrowed from Henry Ford. No one lost. Everyone gained.
Who will you borrow from? Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open. As you view life around you, consider how it can be “tweaked” for other uses and benefits. Consider the two examples above and how they, simplistic as they were, changed the entire world as we knew it. You, too, have that potential.
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Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.    
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In this series, we’ve focused on people, products, organizations and trends which, for one reason or another, have disappeared from the environment they were once so much a part of. We have also predicted those which will more than likely disappear in the very near future.
I live in Michigan, and everyone in the country knows we’re struggling at the moment in a number of crucial areas.
One of those stadiums is Fifth Third Ballpark located in Comstock Park, Michigan, just north of Grand Rapids. The stadium is home to the West Michigan Whitecaps, a professional minor league baseball team and class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. It currently has a seating capacity of 11,123. Don’t forget that number.
Here you see the giant burger compared to a McDonald’s Cheeseburger. If a single person can consume the entire 4-pound finished product in one sitting, the team plans to give him or her a special T-shirt.
In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.
To do my job properly, I have to do a great deal of research. I read constantly—magazines, newspapers, and articles on the Internet. I watch news reports on cable and network television and have lost count of the videos I’ve researched. I listen to the radio as well as hundreds of audio tapes. I’ve been fortunate to have had conversations with board members, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs, etc. I’ve also made it a point to converse with middle managers, frontline employees, vendors, and customers from a wide variety of industries. I’ve tried to remain open-minded and neutral in my research as I’ve had to investigate organizations I didn’t necessarily agree with, support or respect personally. I share this information for a valid reason.
While it’s easy and sometimes popular to take shots at any large, successful organization like all of those named above, it might be wise to pause and recognize those who have earned their success and are willing to share it with their employees as a way of saying “thanks.”
May is “Get Caught Reading Month,” and we’d like to contribute to such a worthy celebration by adding 10 more book reviews to our growing list of bestsellers, bringing our offering to 200! A quick glance at this feature of our web site may either save you from investing time and money in a book that may not be to your liking or, better yet, introduce you to some great titles you may have otherwise never considered. Take a look, share the wealth with your clients and colleagues, and feel better informed at the same time. Check out these new titles—in no particular order.
You probably never expected to see the above words in the same sentence. However, finish this article, and you’ll quickly see the obvious connection.
The good administrative assistant knows intimately how the office functions. While all offices look the same on the surface, each office is different, often influenced by the industry it serves. Some have a more casual chain of command, some are very formal. In the office, the experienced administrative assistant knows, for instance, which faxes are important and which are trash; what snail mail can be safely discarded; which e-mails must be forwarded to the boss, and which he or she can deal with. The administrative assistant also deals with the public in many offices and is a source of general information. He or she will also probably be responsible, at least in part, in training new office staff. She has to know how to work with a variety of office equipment, and may be experienced enough to do minor repairs.
A few weeks later the cannibals’ boss remarked, “You’re all working very hard, and I’m satisfied with you. However, one of our secretaries has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?” The cannibals all shook their heads, “No,” they said.
We read so very often about how much and how fast things are changing. I certainly can’t disagree with that fact because I write about it on our blog, and it’s a big part of our