4.1. Lesson 25: The Ideal Executive
By the second decade of the twentieth century, Edison had formulated a questionnaire for all who sought employment in his laboratories, workshops, or the executive level of his manufacturing companies. Educators and others of the era regarded the questionnaire as quirky, even perverse. And no wonder. It consisted of an almost random series of questions, such as What is the capital of Nevada? Where is the world's primary source of mahogany? In what country is Timbuctoo? Who was Desmoulins? Who was Kit Carson? Who was Blaise Pascal?
Perhaps the oddest of all the features of this questionnaire was that Edison really had no interest in whether or not a particular applicant knew any of the things he asked them. ...
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