Chapter 3, Blowing the Roof Off Summary and Analysis

Three years into his GE career, Jack blows up one of the factories. The incident is terrifying, but Jack's 100-mile drive to explain it to Charlie Reed, a corporate group executive and Gutoff's boss, is worse. To Jack's surprise, Reed is more concerned that no one is hurt and that product problems are learned now, rather than later. How Reed handles the incident makes a lasting impression on Jack. Reed asks only three questions about the incident: "What have you learned from the explosion?" "Can you fix the reactor process?" and "Should we continue the project?" He tells Jack, "When people make mistakes, the last thing they need is discipline." Restoring self-confidence and encouragement is more effective than discipline to prevent more serious events resulting from a lack of confidence from happening in...