The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1915-12-17
COOPERATION, THE KEY TO sue
CESS

CESS.
do not consider myself business
man-far from it. l do not see hoI
anybody could accuse a "pencil push
er" of being so august parsonage
as a business man. But, | have an
idea that one on the outer rim of bus
mess, SO to speak, has the advantage
of viewpoint, to a certain extent. A
man standing by the track may .>be
no sort of engineer, yet may get
better view of the passing steam
monster than does the engineer who
pulls the throttle.
1t seems to me that one of the chief
weaknesses of the average business
lies in the fact that there is not
enough of cooperation. l do not refer
to the matters pertaining to the bus
mess in its relations with the public,
but in matters relating to the internal
'nechansms of its life. There is often
an utter Indifference to the success
of business on the part of the actual
workers employed to carry on the
concern. This indifference is some
times manifested in point of contact
with the public; it is frequently re-
vealed in the lack of response to the
minor duties falling to the lot of the
employee. 1t is to be seen in the
listless, half-hearted, Indifferent SER
vice rendered. 1t may not be alto
gether the employees fault; it, no
doubt, often results from the attitude
of mind the employer brings to bear
on the conduct of the business. 1t
sometimes comes from his stupidity,
his vanity or his ignorance-that is
not the question-getting rid of it is
the thing that counts. A clock keeps
good time when all the wheels are
turning in harmony, without lost mo-
tion and when regulated. One broken
wheel may not stop the thing, but it
will certainly impair it's usefulness.
There must be cooperation, inter-de-
pendence, if the clock is to fulfil its
function as a timekeeper. So, it seems
to me, the various individuals in a
business must work together, coop
crate, make up one complete unfit
the best results are to be achieved.
Happy the man who, as the head of a
concern, can get his forces together,
unite their wills, bind their efforts
into one great whole-in the conduct
of any business, any enterprise. It
seems to me that | would, if l were a
business man, get the whole store,
bank, shop, mill or farm dwellers to-
gether and preach just one sermons,
Cooperation, the Key to Success" ID
don't pretend to say just how to woAs
the sermon, hut elegantly or inela e.
gantly-no matter which, .-wouia
seek to create that sentiment when I
found it did not exist, and to intensif,
1T where it already existed. Instead
of building a wall of reserve about
myself as "the head" of the concern,
l would try to batter down that re-
serve and build the wall around the
whole concern. There are many ways
to do this-fish frys, trips, an open
home. believe that business presided
over by a man who is on intimate
terms with the "office boy" is in far
safer condition than is that business
presided over by "the boss" who is
held in awe by the office boy. l may
be msetaken in this. But | do know
that boy can render heart service or
eye service as it may please him. And
l know the business tyrant will not
get heart service. | don't believe eve
service is a sure foundation for bus
mess. | believe the average business
would pick up amazingly if from office
boy to head man the business was
spoken of as "our business" | believe
the average business would show i'm
mediate signs of Improvement if the
employer opened his home to the en-
pioyees. / don't believe any business
man will get the best out of his clerks
until he sits down and eats with them
The Great Teacher, in winning men
publicans and sinners deceived them,
ate with them. The principle is not
only good in the high realm of soul
winning, but also in the meaner realm
of commercialism. Anyway, I believe
it. And believe this is going to be
more and more an accepted principle
of a successful business. And | be-
lieve the employer needs the contact
more than does the employee. He
has more at stake; in fact, he has all
to lose, If the concern fail. That it
Will not fail, soon or late, depends,
more than anything else, upon the. CO.
operation of the whole crew. If all
the employers in Union were to try
this, even if done as an experiment,
during the Christmas holidays, be-
lieve it would work marvel in most
of the concerns. And, I will say this:
if honestly tried to win fellow, and
he would have none of the woong, I
would make it convenient to fill his
place at the first convenient oppof-
tunity, with another and more re-
sponsive helper This / would do not
to punish him but to save my business.
CARD OF THANKS.