Chapter 2, Getting Out of the Pile Summary and Analysis

After one year with GE, Jack gets a $1,000 raise, but so do the other three men he shares his office with. Jack believes he deserves more for his expanded efforts. He is frustrated and resentful at being lumped in with the group.

The red carpet treatment Jack experiences when GE initially woos him quickly rolls up after he is hired. Jack also finds it difficult to adjust to the company's penny-wise behavior. He enjoys traveling to the R&D lab to sell his projects and ideas to the plastics (PPO) inventors, but they are funded completely by corporate, and trying to get them excited about any innovation is difficult. These scientists like research, not commercialization or business. It frustrates Jack that that they are content and not overly motivated, experimental, or...