Tweet

Lesson #4: Never Stop Running Scared

Article Overview: “The secret I learned early on from my father was to run scared and never think I had it made,” said Watson Jr. “I never felt I was completely adequate to the job and always ran scared…The fundamental for our success was running scared. I've seen us go by companies whose chief executives used to make me shake in awe." One of the biggest keys to IBM’s success was Watson Jr.’s inability to sit still, to accept his success and ride it out. Instead, Watson Jr. always kept his eye on the future, always looked for improvement, for the next big opportunity and he refused to settle.

Lesson #4: Never Stop Running Scared

“The secret I learned early on from my father was to run scared and never think I had it made,” said Watson Jr. “I never felt I was completely adequate to the job and always ran scared…The fundamental for our success was running scared. I've seen us go by companies whose chief executives used to make me shake in awe." One of the biggest keys to IBM’s success was Watson Jr.’s inability to sit still, to accept his success and ride it out. Instead, Watson Jr. always kept his eye on the future, always looked for improvement, for the next big opportunity and he refused to settle.

“The pursuit of perfection means not just enthusiasm for doing a topnotch job in important things, it means attention to detail and an itch to innovate and improve in whatever we have to do,” said Watson Jr. “It means to be dissatisfied with the status quo. We ought always to know precisely why a given job is done in a particular way, and why it is done at all, and why it can't be done more efficiently, if it must be done at all. This is the attitude that built our modern industrial society. It is the attitude that built IBM. I hope we never lose it.”

This did not mean, however, that Watson Jr. was quick to jump on any opportunity that came his way. “As we grow in size, we must make certain that what we're adding is not excess weight, but healthy muscle,” he said. “There is an old staying that when you talk – you teach, when you listen – you learn. There are a lot of ideas worth listening to…Let's be sure we're paying attention. We are never so rich in ideas that we can afford not to.” Watson Jr. took his time, did his homework and only took those actions that he deemed necessary and beneficial to the company in the long run.

Watson Jr. carried this philosophy of his even further, insisting that IBM always keep an eye on its surroundings – on the environment in which the company actually operated and the people who operated it. Running scared not only meant staying on top of the technological game; it meant ensuring that the company and the people behind it were always at the top of their game.

“One of the things my father always tried to impress me with was that the success we want as individuals and as a business is the kind that is built and sustained by the good will of other people,” said Watson Jr. “The only way we can be sure of keeping this good will is always to consider the total impact of our personal and collective behaviour. The little things we do – or fail to do – often testify louder than the loudest statements of our intentions.”

Watson Jr. engineered his company’s success. Fear – of both failure and of his father’s legacy – motivated Watson Jr. to continually stay on the move and keep the company at the top of its game, saying: “If IBM is to continue to be strong, to grow, and to bring profit to all of us in the company and to our customers and stockholders, we must be certain – constantly – that we are headed in the right direction, making the right decisions, and treating every employee with respect.”

Related Articles
  Fear
  Manage Fear of Failure
  Receiving love
  Make it Stupid-Easy to Buy
  Lesson #5: “Hard times are an opportunity for growth”

Article Tags: attention to detail, attitude, awe, chief executives, excess weight, homework, important things, job, paying attention, philosophy, staying on top, surroundings, tolet, watson



Related Forum Posts
Decide your market first - Stop for a second and decide exactly who it is that you want to sell your product to. Once you've done this you'll have a far better idea of where to find them and what it is that they're interested in Cheers
Re: 15 Hot Internet Businesses - Running a travel planning agency out of my home would be amusing... it'd give me an excuse to travel all around Virginia, put together info packets on the various historical and military sites, and then sell 'em as travel guides...
Other Great Books... - Feel The Fear And Do It AnyWay - Susan Jeffers How To Stop Worrying And Do It Anyway - Dale Carnegie ('What's the worst that could happen - the worst?' Then prepare yourself for that and reality is such a relief!).
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
Re: Eng Lit Academic Site Up For Review - Hi Zac, Thank you for the swift and useful review! You can probably guess that graphics are not my strong point. I will take your comments about the header on board. A tag line is also a great idea. I have installed a Wordpress blog with the aim of making the site more interactive and possibly as a platform for other people's articles and essays. Running a reviewing service is also a nice idea. Much appreciated. Thanks, DH


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Emotional Energy is Our Engine

Basic Operating Question (BOQ) for Empowerment

How To Become A Member of the Paparazzi

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.