Today’s trivia:
Origin of the phrase “You’re fired”:
John Henry Patterson, founder of National Cash Register (NCR) is widely recognized as the pioneer of sales management and for developing formal methods for training and assessing salespersons. In spite of all his genius, Patterson was quirky. He sought total control of his surroundings, imposing his personal values on employees. As a food and fitness fanatic, he had employees weighed every six months. He often dismissed employees for trivial reasons just to deflate their self-confidence and, soon after, rehire them back.
Patterson’s employees and customers branded him abusive and confrontational. Patterson once dismissed an executive by asking him to visit a customer. When the executive drove back to NCR headquarters, he found his desk had been thrown out on the lawn. Right on time, his desk burst into flames. He was “fired.”
So many orgs NOT to work for/ at.
I find that story hard to believe. It sounds like an urban legend, but I will check it out. People have lost their jobs for thousands of years, and the term “terminated” is of recent origin, so I would guess that the word “fired” for losing a job has been around longer than NCR.
“Patterson once dismissed an executive by asking him to visit a customer. When the executive drove back to NCR headquarters, he found his desk had been thrown out on the lawn. Right on time, his desk burst into flames. He was “fired.””
That was Watson Sr., who was fired for continuing to question Patterson on a business decision (mechanical vs electronic cash registers).
As for other trivia, he prepared for Dayton’s 1913 flood by converting the factories to boat production, while offering other help - to anyone in need.
Thomas J Watson was a product of NCR abuse, he pleaded guilty to a felony before purchasing the Bundy Time Works in Binghamton NY, then moving it 7 miles to the west to what was known as Endicott, home of Endicott Johnson Shoes...it became IBM..
One time Harvey Firestone fired an executive by taking a fire axe off the wall, going to the guy’s office, and planting it in the middle of his desk.
This had to do with a deliberate infringement on a Goodyear patent.