Today's Business Lessons
Drop the ‘T’
The word “can’t” is a terrible word.
If people in the past allowed this word to dominate, then there won’t be a lot of accomplishments today.
Now, take a look at these:
• The first successful cast-iron plow, invented in the United States
in 1797, was rejected by New Jersey farmers under the theory that cast
iron poisoned the land and stimulated the growth of weeds.
• An eloquent authority in the United States declared that the
introduction of the railroad would require the building of many insane
asylums, since people would be driven mad with terror at the sight of
locomotives rushing across the country.
• In Germany, it was proved by “experts” that if trains went at the
frightful speed of 15 miles an hour, blood would spurt from the
travelers’ noses and passengers would suffocate when going through
tunnels
• Commodore Vanderbilt dismissed Westinghouse and his new air brakes for trains, stating, “I have no time to waste on fools.”
• Those who loaned Robert Fulton money for his steamboat project
stipulated that their names be withheld for fear of ridicule were it
known they supported anything so “foolhardy.”
• In 1881, when the New York YWCA announced typing lessons for women,
vigorous protests were made on the grounds that the female constitution
would break down under the strain.
• Men insisted that iron ships would not float, that they would
damage more easily than wooden ships when grounding, that it would be
difficult to preserve the iron bottom from rust, and that iron would
deflect the compass.
• Joshua Coppersmith was arrested in Boston for trying to sell stock
in the telephone. “All well-informed people know that it is impossible
to transmit the human voice over a wire
• The editor of the Springfield Republican refused an invitation to
ride in an early automobile, claiming that it was incompatible with the
dignity of his position. (Source: James S. Hewett, Illustrations
Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988)
Notice the word “couldn’t or cannot?”
Even the experts were clearly wrong.
Below is a circulating compilation of circumstances from people who said “it couldn’t be done.”
Let us learn from them.
Electric Light – “good enough for our transatlantic friends, but
unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men” was the
British Parliament’s report on Edison’s work, 1878.
The Telephone – “That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?” says Pres. Rutherford Hayes, 1876.
Television – “People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box
every night.” says Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Twentieth Century-Fox,
1946.
Computers – “There is no reason for any individual to have computer
in their home.” says Ken Olson, Pres. of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
Aviation – “The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines
speeding across the Atlantic and carrying innumerable passengers...it
seems safe to say that such ideas are wholly visionary.” says Harvard
astronomer Wm. Henry Pickering, 1908.
“Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10
years.” says vacuum cleaner manufacturer, Alex Lewyt, 1955.
On Medicine – “The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will be forever
shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.” says leading
British surgeon Sir John Erichsen, 1837.
Experts made mistakes; they believed certain things cannot be done.
I am more of a “can” person.
Now, this is just me, but my most favorite “can” came from the
Scriptures, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
This is my source of confidence.
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