Jonathots Daily Blog
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Sometimes good people do bad things.
Likewise, bad people do good things.
More often, people do nothing.
This compels us to ask the question, “Should folks be judged by what they accomplish, or by the dictates of their beliefs and the parameters of their character?”
It does come up.
For the greatest among us are often splattered with iniquity, while simultaneously making a notable contribution.
Such is the case of a man named Henry Ford.
He is arguably the inventor of the car. The argument exists because there were many souls experimenting with the “horseless carriage,” but Henry was certainly the first one to take it to market, promoting a product known as the Model T.
Mr. Ford jokingly once said about his Model T, “The customer can get it in any color whatsoever that he may want, as long as it’s black.”
Along with this massive achievement of motorizing the race, Mr. Ford was also known to be one of the worst bigots and enemy of the Jewish people. He even received an award for his writings from Adolph Hitler and the Nazi boys.
So history has handled the dilemma by enjoying the automobile and leaving next to it an asterisk, which quietly tells about its creator, Henry Ford.
Perhaps that’s the best way.
But the truth of the matter is, Henry Ford took something that was impossible and made it pleasing. Why was it impossible?
A gasoline combustible engine.
Can you find a word in there that isn’t dangerous?
Yet Henry took on the job of making a shell to sit on top of that engine safe for traveling.
He did it by following a three-step process. And though I don’t agree with Henry about the Children of Abraham, I cannot ignore the visionary approach he took for making the renowned family car.
First step: make it work.
It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, how many colors it comes in or how many seats it has—if it doesn’t work.
It has to function without people choking from all the smoke. It has to start up instead of needing repair on every trip. It must be reliable.
Now wait a second. I must be candid—over half the things we have going on in this country are negated because they don’t work. They are pretty, popular, spiritual, touted—but they don’t work.
If you’re going to do great things, you have to make sure the great thing you have come up with actually kicks ass, while taking names.
Number Two: make it comfortable.
It was not easy to ride a horse for twenty miles to the next town. That’s why they came up with the carriage in the first place. But it had its drawbacks, with broken wheels, axles and many a sore buttock.
Yet people were not going to give up their horses for something that did not work—and was not pleasant.
Room for at least three inside.
A little padding on the seats.
Glass in the windows.
A way to get fresh air.
And a way to start the vehicle that didn’t demand priming the engine each time or turning a crank.
And then, once you make it comfortable:
Number three: make it fun.
All the things that have been added to the automobile since Henry Ford pushed his little invention down the road have been all about making driving fun.
- Radio.
- Speedometers.
- Air conditioning.
- Heated seats.
- Video.
- Audio.
- GPS.
- Mirrors everywhere.
These have turned the car into more than just a means of transportation. Now it’s a way to brag about your success.
Henry Ford, in spite of his bigotry, took an idea and made it work, made it comfortable and made it fun.
Somewhere along the line we will have to do this with everything we wish to accomplish in America, or we will drag our feet, fail to pursue great ideas—and shall we say—back the wrong horse.
Jonathots Daily Blog 