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Henry Ford

My life, my achievements

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Introduction. My main idea

Our country has just begun to develop. No matter what they say about our astonishing successes, we have barely scratched the surface. Despite this, our successes have been amazing enough. But if we compare all that has been done with what remains to be done, all our successes turn into nothing. One has only to remember that more power is expended in plowing the land than in all the industrial enterprises of the country put together, and one immediately gets an idea of the possibilities that lie before us. And just now, when so many states are undergoing changes, now, with the unrest prevailing everywhere, the moment seems to have come when it is appropriate to recall something from the area of the tasks ahead, in the light of those that have already been solved.

When it comes to the growing power of machine and industry, we immediately see the image of a cold, metallic world in which trees, flowers, birds, meadows are replaced by grandiose factories, iron machines and robots. I do not share this view. Moreover, I believe that if we do not learn to use machines better, we will not have time to enjoy trees and birds, flowers and meadows.

In my opinion, we have done too much to frighten away the joy of life by thinking about the opposition of the concepts of "existence" and "sustainability". We waste so much time and energy that we have little to enjoy. Power and machinery, money and possessions are useful only insofar as they give a person freedom. They are only a means to an end. For example, I look at cars that bear my name, not only as cars. If they were only machines, I would do something else. To me, they are clear proof of a business theory that aims to make the world a source of joy. The fact of the extraordinary success of the Ford Automobile Society is significant because it provides irrefutable evidence for my theory. Thanks to this, I can talk about existing methods of production, finance and society as a person who is not enslaved by them.

If I pursued selfish goals, I would not need to strive to change the usual order of things. If I thought only about profit, the current system would be excellent for me - it supplies me with money in abundance. But I remember the duty to society. Existing system does not allow to achieve the highest productivity, because it promotes waste in all its forms; it robs multitudes of the fruits of their labour. It is devoid of planning and expediency.

I have nothing against criticism of new ideas. It is better to be skeptical about them and demand proof of their correctness than to chase novelty in a continuous cycle of opinions. Skepticism coupled with caution is a reliable compass of civilization. There is no idea that is good just because it is old, or bad because it is new. But if old idea justified itself, this is strong evidence in its favor. Ideas in themselves are valuable, but each of them, after all, is only an idea. It is important to be able to put it into practice.

First of all, I would like to prove that the ideas by which we are guided can be applied everywhere, that they concern not only automobiles or tractors, but are part of a certain general code. I am firmly convinced that this code is natural, and I would like to prove this with such immutability that would result in the recognition of our ideas not as new, but as fundamental.

It is quite natural to believe that happiness and well-being are obtained only by honest work. Much of human misfortune stems from attempts to deviate from this path. I am not going to suggest anything that would go beyond the unconditional recognition of this natural principle. I start from the assumption that we have to work. The successes we have achieved, in essence, are the result of logical reasoning: since we have to work, it is better to work smart and prudently; the better we work, the better we will live. This is what, in my opinion, elementary common sense prescribes to us.

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Henry Ford
Henry Ford. My life, my achievements

Introduction
My guiding idea

Our country has just begun to develop; no matter what they say about our amazing successes, we barely plowed through the top cover. Despite this, our successes have been amazing enough. But if we compare what has been done with what remains to be done, all our successes turn into nothing. One has only to remember that more power is expended in plowing the land than in all the industrial enterprises of the country put together, and one immediately gets an idea of the possibilities that lie before us. And precisely now, when so many states are going through a process of fermentation, now, with the unrest reigning everywhere, the moment has apparently come when it is appropriate to recall something from the area of the tasks ahead in the light of the tasks already solved.

When one speaks of the growing power of machine and industry, the image of a cold, metallic world easily arises before us, in which trees, flowers, birds, grasslands are supplanted by the grandiose factories of a world of iron machines and human machines. I do not share this view. Moreover, I believe that if we do not learn how to use machines better, we will not have time to enjoy trees and birds, flowers and meadows.

In my opinion, we have done too much to frighten away the joy of life by thinking about the opposition of the concepts of "existence" and "sustainability". We waste so much time and energy that we have little left for the pleasures of life. Power and machinery, money and possessions are useful only insofar as they contribute to the freedom of life.. They are only a means to an end. For example, I look at cars that bear my name, not only as cars. If they were just that, I would have done something else. To me they are clear evidence of a business theory which I hope is more than a business theory, namely, a theory whose purpose is to create a source of joy out of the world. The fact of the extraordinary success of the Ford Automobile Society is significant in that it shows irrefutably how correct my theory has hitherto been. Only with this premise can I judge the existing methods of production, finance and society from the point of view of a man who is not enslaved by them.

If I pursued only selfish goals, I would not need to seek to change the established methods. If I thought only of acquisition, the present system would be excellent for me; she supplies me with money in abundance. But I remember the duty of service. The present system does not give the highest measure of productivity, for it promotes waste in all its forms; it robs many people of the product of their labour. She has no plan. It all depends on the degree of planning and expediency.

I have nothing against the general tendency to ridicule new ideas. It is better to be skeptical of all new ideas and demand proof of their correctness than to chase after every new idea in a state of constant thought cycle. Skepticism, coinciding with caution, is the compass of civilization. There is no idea that is good just because it is old, or bad because it is new; but if the old idea justified itself, then this is strong evidence in its favor. Ideas are valuable in themselves, but every idea is, after all, just an idea. The challenge is to put it into practice.

First of all, I want to prove that the ideas we apply can be applied everywhere, that they concern not only the field of cars or tractors, but, as it were, are part of a certain general code. I am firmly convinced that this code is completely natural, and I would like to prove this with such immutability that would result in the recognition of our ideas not as new, but as a natural code.

It is quite natural to work in the consciousness that happiness and well-being are obtained only by honest work. Human misfortunes are largely the result of an attempt to turn away from this natural path. I am not going to suggest anything that would go beyond the unconditional recognition of this natural principle. I start from the assumption that we have to work. The successes we have achieved so far are, in essence, the result of a certain logical realization: since we have to work, it is better to work smart and prudently; the better we work, the better we will be. That's what prescribes us, in my opinion, elementary, common human sense.

One of the first rules of caution teaches us to be on our guard and not to confuse reactionary actions with reasonable measures. We have just gone through a period of fireworks in every respect and have been inundated with programs and plans for idealistic progress. But we didn't go further than that. All together it looked like a rally, but not like a progressive movement. I had to hear a lot of beautiful things; but when we got home, we discovered that the fire in the hearth had gone out. Reactionaries usually take advantage of the depression that follows such periods and begin to refer to the "good old days" - mostly filled with the worst old abuses - and since they have neither vision nor imagination, they pass for "practical people" on occasion. ". Their return to power is often hailed as a return to common sense.

The main functions are agriculture, industry and transport. Without them, social life is impossible. They hold the world together. The cultivation of the land, the manufacture and distribution of commodities, are as primitive as human needs, and yet more vital than anything. They are the quintessence of physical life. If they die, then public life will end.

Any amount of work. Business is nothing but work. On the contrary, speculation in ready-made products has nothing to do with business - it means nothing more and nothing less than a more decent form of theft, which cannot be eradicated by legislation. In general, little can be achieved by legislation: it is never constructive. It is incapable of going beyond the limits of police power, and therefore it is a waste of time to expect from our government agencies in Washington or in the main cities of the states what they cannot do. As long as we expect legislation to cure poverty and remove privilege from the world, we are destined to see poverty grow and privilege multiply. We've relied on Washington for too long, and we've got too many legislators—although they don't have as much freedom in our country as they do in other countries—but they attribute to laws a power they don't have.

If you inspire a country, for example ours, that Washington is heaven, where omnipotence and omniscience sit on thrones above the clouds, then the country begins to fall into dependence, which does not promise anything good in the future. Help will come not from Washington, but from ourselves; moreover, we ourselves may be able to help Washington, as a kind of center where the fruits of our labors are concentrated for their further distribution for the common good. We can help the government, not the government to us.

The motto “Less administrative spirit in business life and more business spirit in administration” is very good, not only because it is useful both in business and in government, but also because it is useful to the people. The United States was not created for business reasons. A declaration of independence is not a commercial document, and the constitution of the United States is not a catalog of goods. The United States is a country, government and economic life is only a means to give value to the life of the people. The government is only his servant and must always remain so. As soon as the people become an appendage to the government, the law of retribution comes into force, for such a ratio is unnatural, immoral and inhuman. It is impossible to do without business life and government. Both, playing a service role, are as necessary as water and bread; but, starting to rule, they go against the natural order. Taking care of the well-being of the country is the duty of each of us. Only under this condition will the matter be set up correctly and reliably. Promises cost nothing to the government, but it is not able to fulfill them. True, governments can juggle currency as they did in Europe (and as financiers around the world still do and will do as long as the net income gets into their pocket); at the same time, a lot of solemn nonsense dangles. Meanwhile, work, and only work, can create value. Deep down everyone knows this.

It is highly unbelievable that such an intelligent people as ours would be able to stifle the basic processes of economic life. Most people feel instinctively, without even realizing it, that money is not wealth. Vulgar theories that promise everything to everyone and demand nothing are immediately rejected by the instinct of the ordinary person, even when he is not able to logically comprehend such an attitude towards them. He knows they are false, and that is enough. The present order, in spite of its clumsiness, frequent blunders, and various shortcomings, has the advantage over any other that it functions. Undoubtedly, the current order will gradually pass into another, and another order will also function, but not so much on its own, as depending on the content invested in it by people. Is our system correct? Of course, wrong, in a thousand ways. Heavy? Yes! From the point of view of law and reason, it should have collapsed long ago. But she's holding on.

The economic principle is work. Labor is a human element that turns the fruitful seasons to its advantage. Human labor created from the harvest season what it has become today. The economic principle says: "Each of us works on a material that is not created by us and which we cannot create, on a material that is given to us by nature."

The moral principle is the right of a person to his work. This right finds various forms of expression. The man who has earned his bread has also earned the right to it. If another person steals this bread from him, he steals from him more than bread, steals a sacred human right.

If we cannot produce, we cannot possess. The capitalists who have become such through the trade in money are a temporary, inevitable evil. They may not even be evil if their money is re-injected into production. But if their money is used to hinder distribution, to erect barriers between consumer and producer, then they are indeed pests whose existence will cease as soon as money is better adapted to labor relations. And this will happen when everyone comes to the realization that only work, one work leads to the right path to health, wealth and happiness.

There is no reason why a person who wants to work should not be able to work and receive full compensation for his work. In the same way, there is no reason why a person who is able to work, but does not want to, should not also receive full compensation for what he has done. Under all circumstances, he must be given the opportunity to receive from society what he himself gave to society. If he has given nothing to society, then he has nothing to demand from society. Let him be given the freedom to die of hunger. By arguing that everyone should have more than he actually deserves - just because some get more than they are rightfully entitled to - we will not get far.

There can be no statement more absurd and more harmful to mankind than that all men are equal.

In nature, no two objects are absolutely equal. We build our machines only with interchangeable parts. All these parts are similar to each other as much as they can be similar in application. chemical analysis, the most precise instruments and the most precise workmanship. There is therefore no need for trials. At the sight of two Fords, so similar in appearance to each other that no one can distinguish them, and with parts so similar that they can be put one in the place of the other, it involuntarily comes to mind that they are really the same. But this is by no means the case. They are different at work. We have people who have driven hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Ford cars, and they claim that no two cars are exactly alike; that if they drive a new car for an hour or less and this car is then placed in a row of other cars, also tested by them for an hour under the same conditions, they, although they will not be able to distinguish by appearance separate cars, yet distinguish them in the ride.

So far I've been talking about various subjects in general: let's move on to concrete examples. Each one should be placed in such a way that the scale of his life is in due proportion to the services he renders to society. It is timely to say a few words on this subject, because we have just gone through a period when, with respect to most people, the question of the amount of their services was in the background. We were well on our way to reaching the point where no one is asking for these services anymore. Checks arrived automatically. Formerly the customer honored the seller with his orders; in the future, relations changed, and the seller began to honor the client by fulfilling his orders. In business life, this is evil. Every monopoly and every pursuit of profit is evil. It is invariably harmful for an enterprise if there is no need to strain. An enterprise is never so great as when, like a chicken, it has to look for part of its nutrition itself. Everything was too easy in business life. The principle of a definite, real correspondence between a value and its equivalent has been shaken. There was no need to think about customer satisfaction. In certain circles, even a kind of tendency to drive the public to hell prevailed. Some referred to this state as "the heyday of business life." But this by no means meant flourishing. It was just an unnecessary pursuit of money that had nothing to do with business life.

If you do not constantly have a goal in front of your eyes, it is very easy to overload yourself with money and then, in unceasing efforts, earn more. more money completely forget about the need to supply the public with what they really want. Doing business on the basis of pure profit is an enterprise of the highest degree of risk. It is a kind of gambling that runs unevenly and is rarely kept for more than a few years. The task of the enterprise is to produce for consumption, and not for profit or speculation. And the condition for such production is that its products be of good quality and cheap, that these products serve the benefit of the people, and not just one producer. If the question of money is considered in a false perspective, then the products are falsified in favor of the manufacturer.

The producer's well-being ultimately also depends on the benefits he brings to the people. True, for some time he can conduct his affairs not badly, serving only himself. But this is not for long. As soon as the people realize that the manufacturer does not serve them, and its end is not far off. During the rise of the war, manufacturers were concerned mainly with serving themselves. But as soon as the people saw this, many of them came to an end. These people claimed that they fell into a period of "depression". But that was not the case. They simply tried, armed with ignorance, to fight common sense, and such a policy never succeeds. Greed for money is the surest way not to get money. But if you serve for the sake of service itself, for the sake of satisfaction, which is given by the consciousness of the rightness of the cause, then money itself appears in abundance.

Money, quite naturally, is obtained as a result of useful activity. Having money is absolutely essential. But we must not forget at the same time that the purpose of money is not idleness, but the multiplication of funds for useful service. For me personally, there is nothing more disgusting than an idle life. None of us are entitled to it. There is no place for parasites in civilization. All kinds of projects for the destruction of money only lead to a complication of the issue, since it is impossible to do without exchange signs. Of course, it remains in great doubt whether our current monetary system provides a sound basis for exchange. This is a question that I will touch upon more closely in one of the following chapters. My main objection to the current monetary system is that it is often treated as an end in itself. And under this condition, in many respects it slows down production, instead of facilitating it.

My goal is simplicity. In general, because people have so little and the satisfaction of the basic necessities of life (not to mention the luxury to which, in my opinion, everyone has a certain right) is so expensive that almost everything we produce is much more complicated than it needs to be. Our clothes, dwellings, apartment furnishings - everything could be much simpler and at the same time more beautiful. This is because all objects in the past were made in a certain way, and today's manufacturers follow the beaten path.

By this I do not mean to say that we must go to the other extreme. There is absolutely no need for this. It is not at all necessary that our dress should consist of a bag with a hole for the head to stick through. True, in this case it would be easy to manufacture, but it would be extremely impractical. A blanket is not a masterpiece of tailoring, but none of us would have worked much if we walked around, like the Indians, in blankets. True simplicity is associated with understanding the practical and expedient. The disadvantage of all radical reforms is that they want to change a person and adapt him to certain subjects. I believe that attempts to introduce “reform” dress for women invariably come from ugly persons who want other women to be ugly. In other words, everything happens topsy-turvy. You should take something that has proven its suitability and eliminate everything superfluous in it. This primarily applies to shoes, clothing, houses, cars, railways, steamships, aircraft. By eliminating redundant parts and simplifying the necessary ones, we also eliminate unnecessary production costs. The logic is simple. But, oddly enough, the process most often begins with a reduction in the cost of production, and not with a simplification of the fabricated product. We must start from the product itself. It is important first of all to investigate whether it is really as good as it should be - does it fulfill its purpose to the maximum extent? Then - is the material used the best possible or only the most expensive? And finally - does it allow for simplifications in design and reduction in weight? Etc.

Excess weight is as meaningless in any object as the badge on a coachman's hat - perhaps even more meaningless. The badge may, after all, serve for identification, while excess weight only means a waste of power. It is a mystery to me what the mixture of gravity and force is based on. Everything is very good in a piling woman, but why put extra weight in motion when nothing is achieved by this? Why burden a car designed for transport with a special weight? Why not transfer excess weight to the load that is transported by the machine? fat people not able to run as fast as the skinny ones, and we make most of our transport vehicles so bulky, as if dead weight and volume increase speed! Poverty largely comes from dragging dead weights.

In the matter of eliminating excess weight, we will still make a lot of progress, for example with regard to wood materials. Wood is an excellent material for some parts, although very uneconomical. The wood in a Ford car contains about 30 pounds of water. Undoubtedly, improvements are possible here. There must be a means by which the same power and elasticity will be achieved without excess weight. It's the same with a thousand other things.

The farmer makes his day's work too burdensome. In my opinion, the average farmer spends no more than five percent of his energy on really useful work. If a factory were built on the model of an ordinary farm, it would have to be overcrowded with workers. The worst factory in Europe is hardly as badly organized as the average peasant farm. Mechanical energy and electricity are almost never used. Not only is everything done by hand, but in most cases no attention is even paid to expedient organization. During the working day, the farmer probably climbs up and down the rickety ladder a dozen times. He will strain for years in a row, carrying water, instead of laying a meter or two water pipe. If there is a need for additional work, then his first thought is to hire additional workers. He considers it a luxury to spend money on improvements. That is why the products of agriculture, even at the lowest prices, are still too expensive, and the income of the farmer, under the most favorable conditions, is negligible. The predatory waste of time and effort is the cause of high prices and low earnings.

On my own farm in Dearborn, everything is done by machines. But although in many respects limits have been placed on the waste of forces, we are still far from a truly economic economy. Until now, we have not been able to devote attention to this issue continuously for 5-10 years in order to establish what still needs to be implemented. There is more to be done than has been done. And yet we consistently received, regardless of market prices, an excellent income. We are not farmers on our farm, but industrialists. As soon as the farmer learns to look upon himself as an industrialist, with all the latter's aversion to wastefulness in material and labor, the prices of agricultural products will fall so low and incomes will rise so much that everyone will have enough to live on, and Agriculture will acquire a reputation as the least risky and most profitable profession.

In insufficient acquaintance with the processes and the true essence of the profession, as well as with the best forms of its organization, lies the reason for the low profitability of agriculture. But everything that will be organized according to the model of agriculture is doomed to profitlessness. The farmer hopes for happiness and for his ancestors. He has no idea about the economy of production and marketing. The manufacturer, who knew nothing about the economy of production and sales, would not have lasted long. That the farmer is holding on is only proof of how marvelously profitable agriculture itself is. An extremely simple means of achieving cheap and significant production in both industrial and agricultural fields, and production of this kind means that there is enough for everyone. But the worst thing is that everywhere there is a tendency to complicate even the simplest things. Here, for example, the so-called "improvements".

When it comes to improvements, a change in the product is usually designed. An "improved" product is one that has undergone a change. My understanding of the concept of "improvement" is completely different. I consider it generally wrong to start production until the product itself has been improved. This, of course, does not mean that changes should never be made to the fabrication. I only consider it more economical to take up production experience only when I have complete confidence in the good quality and suitability of calculations and material. If such confidence does not turn out upon closer examination, then one should calmly continue the research until certainty appears. Production must come from the product itself. Factory, organization, marketing and financial considerations themselves adapt to the fabricated product. In this way, the chisel of the enterprise is sharpened, and in the end it turns out that time has been won. Forcing products without prior confidence in the product itself was hidden reason many, many disasters. How many people seem to believe that the most important thing is the organization of the factory, sales, financial resources, business management. The most important thing is the product itself, and any forcing of production before the product has been perfected is a waste of energy. Twelve years passed before I completed the Model T, which satisfies me in every way, the same one that is now famous as a Ford car. We didn't even make any attempts at the beginning to start production in the proper sense until we had a real finished product. This latter has not undergone significant changes since then.

We are constantly experimenting with new ideas. Driving near Dearborn, you can meet all kinds of Ford cars. These are testing machines, not new models. I don't ignore any good idea, but I shy away from deciding immediately if it's really good. If the idea turns out to be really good, or at least opens up new possibilities, then I am in favor of testing it in every possible way. But these tests are still infinitely far from change. While most manufacturers are more willing to change the product than the methods of its production, we use just the opposite method.

We have made a number of significant changes in our production methods. There is never a stalemate here. It seems to me that since we built our first car according to the current model, not one of the previous devices has remained unchanged. That is the reason for the cheapness of our production. Those small changes that are introduced in our cars are intended to improve ride comfort or increase power. The materials used in production change, of course, as we learn to understand materials.

In the same way, we want to protect ourselves from interruptions in production or from the need to raise prices due to the possible lack of any individual materials. In these types, we have a replacement material for almost all parts. For example, of all steel grades, vanadium is the most widely used. The greatest strength is combined in it with a minimum weight; but we would be nothing but bad businessmen if we made our whole future dependent on the possibility of obtaining vanadium steel. So we found a metal to replace it. All varieties of ours have become quite peculiar, but for each individual variety we have at least one replacement, and even several, all of which have been tried and all have proved to be suitable. The same can be said about all varieties of our materials, as well as about all individual parts. At first we made only a few parts ourselves, and we didn't make motors at all. At the present time we make the motors ourselves, as well as almost all the parts, because it is cheaper. We also do this so that we are not affected by market crises and so that foreign manufacturers do not paralyze us with their inability to deliver what we need. During the war, glass prices rose to dizzying heights. We were among the first ranks of consumers. At present, we have started the construction of our own glass factory. If we had expended all our energy on a change in the product, we would not have gone far, but since we did not make any changes in the product, we were able to concentrate all our efforts on improving the manufacturing methods.

The most important part of a chisel is the point. Our enterprise is primarily based on this idea. In a chisel, not so much depends on the fineness of the workmanship or the quality of the steel and the quality factor of the forging, if there is no point in it, then this is not a chisel, but just a piece of metal. In other words, what matters is the real, not the imaginary benefit. What is the point of hitting with a blunt chisel with great effort, if a light blow with a sharpened chisel does the same job? The chisel exists to cut down, not to pound. Hitting is just a side effect. So, if we want to work, why not concentrate our will on the work and do it in the shortest way? The sharp point in industrial life is the line along which the product of production comes into contact with the consumer. A defective product is a product with a blunt point. It takes a lot of extra power to push it through. The spikes in a factory enterprise are man and machine doing work together. If the person is not suitable, then the machine is not able to do the job correctly, and vice versa. To demand that more force be expended on this or that work than is absolutely necessary is to be wasteful.

So, the essence of my idea is that wastefulness and greed inhibit true productivity. But extravagance and greed are by no means inevitable evils. Extravagance springs mostly from an insufficiently conscientious attitude towards our actions, or from a careless execution of them. Greed is a kind of myopia. My goal was to produce with the minimum expenditure of material and manpower and to sell at the minimum profit, and for the total profit I relied on the size of the sale. In the same way, my goal in the process of such production is to give employees the maximum wage from the profit, in other words, to communicate the maximum purchasing power. And since this method also leads to minimal costs, and since we sell with a minimum of profit, we are able to bring our product into line with purchasing power. The company we founded is really profitable. And that's why I want to talk about it. The main principles of our production are:

1. Do not be afraid of the future and do not respect the past. Whoever is afraid of the future, that is, of failures, he himself limits the scope of his activities. Failure only gives you an excuse to start again and smarter. Honest failure is not shameful; disgraceful fear of failure. The past is useful only in the sense that it shows us the ways and means to development.

2. Pay no attention to the competition. Let the one who does the job best do the work. An attempt to upset someone's affairs is a crime, because it means an attempt to upset the life of another person in the pursuit of profit and establish the rule of force instead of sound reason.

A book written in 1924 that changed ideas about doing business and the relationship between employer and subordinates. This is an autobiographical excerpt of the most important principles Henry Ford, the effectiveness of which is confirmed by the success of his automobile empire. A book that inspires and inspires, provides answers to typical questions of a newcomer to the business environment and makes you radically change your worldview in order to achieve success.

Strictly speaking, Henry Ford's book "My Life, My Achievements" can hardly be called an autobiography in the classical sense of the word. This work is more reminiscent of modern business textbooks, concepts and strategies in the style of Arkhangelsky, Kiyosaki, etc., rather than a detailed biography. And this is not surprising, because the whole life of the founder of the largest automobile empire was inextricably linked with his favorite business. What Steve Jobs would later say in a famous speech to Stanford University alumni as "the great fortune of finding one's way at an early age."

The really great inventor and businessman Henry Ford was actively working on the problem of employee motivation. While the mentioned Jobs was so able to engender and develop the spirit of rivalry and infect with a new idea that his employees happily fought not for salary increases, but for T-shirts with the inscriptions "I worked 24/36/72 hours without a break", etc. . Ford had motivation special role. The material support of employees allowed them to buy produced with my own hands cars. And this was one of the basic principles of the entrepreneur - everyone should be able to purchase a high-quality and comfortable car for city life.

The book itself has a small volume of about 125-140 pages, depending on the year of publication and version. Earlier versions did not include two chapters, therefore they were shorter by 12-15 pages, and only in 2011 in Russia the book was published in full version.

The narrative language is simple and understandable, designed for a wide range of readers and allows representatives of various professions and fields of activity to understand the main ideas and methods. Toward the end, the conceptual and categorical apparatus becomes somewhat more complicated, but the reader has already got into the know and is gradually learning to understand the ideas of the great Ford.

Most critics and readers agree that the lack of excessive lyrics and water in the narrative makes an autobiography an excellent tool for self-development and a ready-made guide to action. But this feature is not accidental, because Henry Ford himself does not like to waste time, finances and efforts in vain.

He's the one with the idea eight hour day and a six- and then a five-day work week. At the same time, providing his workers with everything necessary, not pushing them, but supporting them, he was categorically against trade unions. This position is fully justified and logical, given his attitude towards the workers themselves. It seems that when creating the most comfortable workplace for productive activities and fairly high wages, it would be inappropriate to demand the protection of some other rights and interests of workers.

Researchers separately note the fact that Ford himself had an extremely negative attitude towards Jews and actively cooperated with the Germans during the Second World War, thanks to which his factories in the occupied lands were not destroyed, but continued to work. A portrait of the great innovator hung in the office of Adolf Hitler, who considered him his inspiration. The use of some of Ford's early work for anti-Semitic propaganda in the NSDAP and later by the Wehrmacht in some way tarnished the reputation of the American businessman. After several high-ranking officials, politicians, cultural figures and the US President himself condemned him in a public letter, Ford wrote that he renounces his views on the Jews, asks for their forgiveness and gives his word to continue not to publish any works on this topic.

It is possible to assess the personality of Henry Ford in different ways, taking into account one or another aspect of his activity, but it is impossible not to admit that this man largely predetermined the course of the development of the era.

A 100% workaholic, he strongly supported the creative initiatives of his employees, inspired them with his own example, encouraged and tried to give impetus to the development of each of them. Later, his desire to control everything even resulted in total surveillance of key factory workers, but after a while he recognized this method as a failure and agreed to give them more freedom.

The book will give you answers to the following questions:

how cool it is to change your own life;
is it possible to get rid of the oppression of conditions imposed by the environment and superiors;
is it possible to create your own business from scratch and succeed without connections and start-up capital;
how to properly manage money and increase it;
what is the meaning of any creative or business activity;
how to combine personal enrichment with the idea of creating equal and free conditions for earning and achieving high social status for their subordinates.

In general, the book leaves after reading pleasant emotions and inspiration. It can be a powerful motivator for those who want to achieve something. Definitely recommended reading for all ages.

Name: My life, my achievements
Henry Ford
Year of writing: 2013
Volume: 280 pp. 3 illustrations
Genres: Business strategies, Biographies and memoirs, Foreign business literature, Foreign journalism, Just about business
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"My life. My Achievements by Henry Ford

Henry Ford, the creator of branded cars, now synonymous with prestige, shares the secrets of his success with every modern reader in the pages of the bestseller “My Life. My achievements". The book is unique in its content, as it is filled with the most diverse information, relevant, despite the fact that many years have passed since its first publication.

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 to a wealthy farming family. Parents dreamed of seeing their son as a respectable farmer, but he, after seeing a locomobile at the age of 12, raved about creating a car. At the same time, he wanted to create not just a car, his main goal was to design a car accessible to everyone. Years of hard work, invariably following the intended path, allowed Ford to achieve his goals. He not only created a moving mechanism, but became the owner large enterprise for the production of cars - "Ford Motor Company".

Not having received a special education, Henry Ford at the same time was notable for not hefty talent, as well as special intuition. His marketing tools, which he used in his concern at the dawn of the 20th century, are simply surprising in their effectiveness. Today you can read about all the secrets of the success of a genius in the format of the works “My Life. My achievements". This book is a treatise, which should be at hand not only for those who seek to organize a profitable business. Any phrase in the context of the book is an aphorism, so every conscious person should read it. She is like a guide to the world of success and significance, the doors to which are not open for every person, but the great inventor shares the secrets of how to get there.

"My life. My Achievements is a mix of biography, memoirs, historical data, tips on how to build a successful and profitable business. After reading it, you will look at many things, simple and understandable, with different eyes. What seemed inaccessible and difficult will instantly become quite acceptable and understandable. Reading the works of the great inventor is easy, as he writes in the usual style, without complex frills.

Each page is filled with a mass of diverse, but very relevant information for you, and always unique. Whenever it comes to you, you will understand - here is the information you need right now. Don't put off reading the famous bestseller. “Time does not like to be wasted,” wrote the great genius.

Start reading the book "My Life. My Achievements" today. You will not notice how time will fly by studying the life of an amazing person, and your worldview will change dramatically after reading the treatise. And, perhaps, you, just like the great Henry Ford, will be able to fully realize your talents and skills, giving yourself a lot of pleasure.

On our literary site vsebooks.ru you can download Henry Ford's book "My Life, My Achievements" for free in a suitable format for different devices: epub, fb2, txt, rtf. The book is the best teacher, friend and companion. It contains the secrets of the Universe, the riddles of man and the answers to any questions. We have collected the best representatives of both foreign and domestic literature, classical and modern books, publications on psychology and self-development, fairy tales for children and works exclusively for adults. Everyone will find here exactly what will give a lot of pleasant moments.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford. My life, my achievements

Introduction

My guiding idea

In my opinion, we have done too much to frighten away the joy of life by thinking about the opposition of the concepts of "existence" and "sustainability". We waste so much time and energy that we have little left for the pleasures of life. Power and machinery, money and possessions are useful only insofar as they contribute to the freedom of life.. They are only a means to an end. For example, I look at cars that bear my name, not only as cars. If they were just that, I would have done something else. To me they are clear evidence of a business theory which I hope is more than a business theory, namely, a theory whose purpose is to create a source of joy out of the world. The fact of the extraordinary success of the Ford Automobile Society is significant in that it shows irrefutably how correct my theory has hitherto been. Only with this premise can I judge the existing methods of production, finance and society from the point of view of a man who is not enslaved by them.