Thomas Watson started IBM in 1914 using the simple motto of THINK. His point being that the starting point to any great enterprise is to just think. THINK became IBM's first trademark and to this day dominates its corporate culture. It has been said that IBM employees were required to keep note pads with them at all times to record their thoughts -- to help them think. Thomas Watson, Jr. [pictured above] took over the company in 1952 and he was the driving force behind the IBM powerhouse that we know today.
Watson, Jr. is a story in and of himself. Having spent his life on less responsible pursuits prior to taking over the company, he sank his teeth into the company and pushed it into greatness. Clearly at some point he was transformed by his thoughts
In the 80's IBM was the epitome of corporate culture. The perfect suit and long hard hours were its reputation. A friend of mine's Father worked for IBM as an executive and I can attest that he worked very hard to push that company forward.
Today the value of thoughts and the confidence to transform those thoughts into action are a part of all of our lives. But the diligence to record those thoughts, review those thoughts and produce results from those thoughts is another matter entirely.
A company named Rhodia makes small notepads and also makes mouse pads that double as notepads. I have been trying to capture my thoughts and keep my Rhodia pad at all times for this purpose. I find the real challenge for me isn't thinking and recording thoughts but rather its transforming the thoughts into action. Stated another way its easy to dream, its not so easy to perform the dream.
But dreams take a while to develop. Keep thinking, recording thoughts and trying. There is a payoff for your efforts somewhere down the road.
A link to the life of the founder Thomas Watson: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/10152.wss
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