Stumbling blocks

April 18, 2009 11:20 pm

— In 1931, Henry Ford had the idea for building a small car with a V-8 engine. He told his engineers to design the engine and they answered, “Sir! Impossible!” and Ford replied, “Build it anyway!”
In a nutshell, Ford did not allow any stumbling blocks to prevent an idea from becoming a reality. Finally the engineers were successful and in 1932 the first Ford cars were sold with V-8 engines.
Ford was also a business visionary in another field. In 1923, Ford told his plant managers to hire handicapped workers. He wanted the company to represent a cross-section of the city where the plant was located. For example, if one person in a thousand was blind, then one worker in a thousand had to be blind. This same method was used for all disabled workers and jobs were found for Americans with various disabilities. The handicapped workers were paid regular wages.
During World War II, the Ford method of hiring handicapped workers was surely needed. In 1943, 11,652 handicapped workers were employed in the Ford plant in Detroit. These handicapped men and women took the jobs of the men who served in the armed forces during the war.
Ford’s life can be summarized in simple quotes. He said, “If you think you can, or think you can’t, then you are right.” He also said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again.”
American business leaders must use the Ford method of not allowing stumbling blocks to interfere with achieving goals. By reinventing common-sense business practices, the United States will once again be a nation of problem solvers and a beacon of hope for the human race.

Roy Wetherington
Tifton