--Euripides
No matter where we lived growing up in Michigan, our home was filled with conversations, mainly around the dinner table. Even after the arrival of a black and white Silvertone television from Sears, Roebuck, and Company in the late 1950s, talking face-to-face was a priority for our family.
My mother had culinary gifts, a draw for a host of friends, neighbors, and dad's parishioners, around an oft-crowded mahogany dining room table (which now sits in our Florida home). On those special occasions, time stood still.
That table talk can best be described as story-filled exchanges among older adults who enjoyed politics, religion, and sports. Those same topics still show up when three generations of our family gather during the holiday.
From our early years, we learned the value of carefully sharing ideas among close friends.
Sitting on the porch.
In March, long-time friends and high school classmates Dave and Linda Johnson took Chris and me to the Edison-Ford winter estates. Nearly 25 years have passed since we were in Ft. Myers, Florida, in that beautifully landscaped setting on palm tree-lined McGregor Boulevard next to the Caloosahatchee River.
Thomas A. Edison first visited this part of the Southeastern U.S. in 1885 and, while there, purchased the site that would become his winter home and laboratory.
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, purchased the adjoining property in 1916.
| (L-R) Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, Harvey S. Firestone on the front porch of the Edison laboratory in Ft. Myers, Florida Circa 1930 (C) Edison Estate |
Edison, Ford, and Harvey S. Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., whose winter home was in Palm Beach, Florida, became "uncommon friends" spending time together in sunny Florida. Their favorite places to sit and talk were the Edison and Ford-covered porches.
Our tour guide pointed out that none of the three great minds were "inventors," something I had not thought about. Innovators, not inventors, maybe a better word to describe these seasonal friends, the guide offered.
To illustrate--
o In 1800, Alessandro Volta developed the first practical method for generating electricity--the battery. English chemist, Humphry Davy, produced the first electric lamp that same year. What Thomas Edison did in 1879 was surpass his competition by creating a practical and inexpensive carbon-filament light bulb.
o Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile--that was probably Karl Benz in 1885 or 1886. Nevertheless, Ford found a way to mass produce the Model T car and sell 11,000 in 1908-09, raising $9 million to secure and expand the business.
o John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish inventor, first patented the air-filled tire in 1887. Harvey Firestone saw the potential for marketing tires to automobile companies and started a company in 1890.
One conversation during World War I led Edison to partner with Ford and Firestone to find a rubber tree plant that could proliferate in the U.S., removing dependence on foreign rubber. They each contributed $25,000 ($630,000 in current dollars) to organize the Edison Botanic Research Corporation and create a domestic rubber supply.
What did Edison find? After testing 17,000 plant samples, he discovered a source in the plentiful Goldenrods, flowering plants in the aster family.
If around today, these industrial innovators would likely be talking about artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. Robotics and new sources of energy. Or the unintended consequences of radial tires (they last too long).
I doubt their conversations would be considered small talk.
The wisdom of good friends
Who are your uncommon friends? How often do you discuss things that matter most to each of you?
Irrespective of Facebook's notion of "friending," real friends are few, and deep conversations are rare.
You may be unable to sit on a porch in a botanical garden like Edison, Ford, and Firestone. Still, in a business culture where individuals tend to over-schedule themselves, there's wisdom in making time to be among exceptional friends. The greater your responsibility, the more you need to be around those who can be trusted, especially when thinking out loud.
Face-to-face conversations are sources of laughter, meaning, and encouragement in the correct settings. Who knows, under those circumstances, a transformative idea could even emerge.
Strategist.com
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