rockefeller’s 38 letters to his son——the 28th letter: sincerely believe that you have a way
dear john:
i don't agree with your point of view, let rogers take on the important task and take his own. in fact, i have worked hard for this, but the result was quite disappointing. my principle of employing people is that those who are entrusted with important tasks are those who can find ways to do things better. but rogers is obviously not qualified, because he is a lazy person.
before i intentionally started rogers, i used a question to test him. i said, "mr. rogers, what do you think the government can do to abolish all prisons in thirty years?" he was confused and suspected that he had heard it wrong. after a while of silence, he began to refute me: "dear rockefeller sir, do you mean to release all the murderers, robbers, and rapists? do you know the consequences of doing this? if that's the case, we don't want peace. anyway, there must be a prison."
i hoped to smash rogers’ monolithic head and i reminded him: "rogers, you only said that the prison cannot be abolished. now, you come and try to believe that the prison can be abolished. assuming it can be abolished, how should we proceed? "
"this is too hard for me, mr. rockefeller, i can't believe it, and it's hard for me to find a way to abolish it." this is rogers's method-no way.
i can't imagine whether he will use all his talents to actively respond when he is given a heavy responsibility, when opportunities or dangers come. i don't trust rogers, he will only turn hope into hopelessness.
finding out a way to do things better is a guarantee that everything will be done. this does not require superhuman wisdom. the important thing is to believe that things can be done, and to have this kind of belief. when we believe that something is impossible to do, our brain will find various reasons for us not to do it. however, when we believe-truly believe that something can be done, our brain will help us find various ways.
believing that something can be done will provide us with creative solutions
, to bring out our various creative abilities. on the contrary, not believing that things can be done successfully is tantamount to shutting down our minds for creative problem-solving. it will not only hinder our creative ability, but will also destroy our ideals. the so-called aspirational thing turned out to be the foundation of creation and achievement, but that's it.
i hate my subordinates saying "impossible". "impossible" is a term for failure. once a person is dominated by the idea of ??"it is impossible", he can produce a series of ideas to prove that he is right. rogers made this mistake. he is a traditional thinker, and his mind is numb. his reason is: this has been practiced for a hundred years, so it must be a good way. it must be kept as it is. why take the risk? change? in fact, it can often be achieved only by thinking about the reasons that can be achieved. "ordinary people" always hate progress.
people believe that it is impossible to find the best way to do anything. the best way is as many as creative minds. nothing grows in ice and snow. if we let traditional ideas freeze our hearts, new ideas will grow out of nowhere.
traditional ideas are the number one enemy of creative planning. traditional ideas will freeze our hearts and hinder us from developing the creative abilities we really need. rogers made such a mistake. he should be willing to accept all kinds of ideas and discard the dregs of thoughts such as "unfeasible", "unable", "useless", "that's stupid", etc.; he should also have an experimental spirit. he is brave enough to try new things, so that he will expand his abilities and prepare him for greater responsibilities. at the same time, he has to take the initiative to move forward, don’t think: this is usually the way i do this, so here i also want to use this method, but to think: is there any way to do better than our usual method what?
various plans cannot achieve absolute perfection, which means that all things can be improved endlessly. i know this well, so i often look for better methods. i don’t ask myself: can i do better? i know i can do it, so i ask: how can i do better?
the best way to find the perfect idea is to have many ideas. i will continue to set higher standards for myself and others, and constantly seek various ways to improve efficiency, get more rewards at a lower cost, and do more things with less energy. because i know that the greatest success is those people who have the attitude that i can do things better.
to develop an attitude that i can do better, we need to cultivate, and we have to think every day: how can i do better today? how can i motivate employees today? what special services can i provide for the company? how can i make my work more efficient? this exercise is simple, but very useful. you can give it a try, i believe you will find countless creative ways to win greater success.
our mentality determines our ability. we think we can really do as much as we can. if we really believe that we can do more, we can think creatively about various methods.
it is foolish to refuse new challenges. we have to focus on how we can do more. in this way, many creative answers will come unexpectedly. for example, to improve the current work plan, or to deal with routine work shortcuts, or to delete trivial matters. in other words, most of the methods that enable us to do more appear at this time.
john, you can talk to rogers, i hope he can change, and he may have a better life by then.
love your father
december 4, 1903
rockefeller famous quote:
1. it is impossible to find the best way to do anything.
2. the best way to find the perfect idea is to have many ideas.
3. the greatest success is reserved for those who have the attitude that i can do things better.
