ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT

56

LAW

GET OTHERS TO DO THE

TRANSGRESSION AND

OBSERVANCE

OF THE LAW

In 1883ayoung Serbian^scientistnamed Nikola Teslawas

working

^{for the}

European

division of theContinentalEdison

Company.

^{Hewas abrilliant}

inventor,^andCharles

Batchelor,

^a

plant

manager and^a

personal

^{friend of}

Thomas

Edison, persuaded

him he should seek his fortuneⁱⁿ

America, giv- ing

^{him a}letter of introductionto Edison himself. So

began

^{alife ofwoe}

and tribulation that lasted until Tesla’s death.

When TeslametEdisonin New

York,

^{the famous inventorhired him}

onthe

spot.

Tesla worked

eighteen-hour days, finding

ways^to

improve

^the

primitive

^Edison

dynarnos. Finally

^heofferedto

redesign

^them

completely.

To Edisonthis seemed amonumental task that could last years without

paying ^off,

but he told

Tesla,

^{“’I'here’s}

fifty

thousand dollars^{in it}for

you-—xf

you^candoit.”Tesla labored

day

^and

night

^onthe

project

^{and after}

only

^a

year he

produced

^a

greatly improved

^{version of the}

dynamo, complete

with automaticcontrols.Hewent toEdisontobreakthe

good

^newsandre-

ceivehis

$50,000.

^Edisonwas

pleased

^{with the}

improvement,

^{forwhich he}

and his companywould take

credit,

^{but whenitcame totheissue of the} money he told the young

Serb, “Tesla,

you don’t understand^ourAmerican

lmmori,”

^{andofferedasmallraiseinstead.}

Tesla’s obsession ^was to create an

alternating-current system (AC)

^of

electricity.

Edison believedⁱⁿthe direct—current

system (DC),

^andnot

only

refused to

support

Tesla’s research but later did all he could ^to

sabotage

him. Tesla turned tothe

great Pittsburgh magnate George Westinghouse,

who had started his own

electricity

company.

Westinghouse completely

funded Tesla’: research andofferedhimagenerous

royalty agreement

^on future

profits.

^{The AC}

system

^Tesla

developed

^isstill the standard

today-—

but after

patents

^{werefiledinhisname, otherscientists cameforwardto} take credit for theinvention,

claiming

^that

they

had laid the

groundwork

for him. His^{name was}lostⁱⁿthe

shuffle,

^{and the}

public

^{cametoassociate}

theinventionwith

Westinghouse

^himself.

A year

later, Westinghouse

^was

caught

^{in a} mkeover bid from

_}. Pierpont Morgan,

^{who made}him rescind the_generous

royalty

^contract

hehad

signed

with Tesla.

Westinghouse explained

^{tothe scientistthathis}

companywouldnotsurvive ifithadtopay him his full

royalties;

^he per- suaded Teslato

accept

^a

buyout

^{of his}

patents

^for

$216,000-—a large

^sum,

no

doubt,

but far lessthan the

$12

million

they

^{wereworthatthetime.The}

financiershad divested Tesla of the

riches,

^the

patents,

^and

essentially

^the

credit forthe

greatest

^{inventionof hiscareer.}

Thenameof

Guglielmo

^Marconiisforever linked with the invention ofradio. But few know thatin

producing

his invention-——he broadcast^a

sig-

nal across the

English

^{Channel in} 1899--Marconi made use of^a

patent

Tesla had filedin

1897,

and that his work

depended

^onTesla’.-i research.

Once

again

Tesla received ^no money and^no credit. Tesla invented^anin- duction^motoraswellasthe ACpower

system,

^{and heis}the real “father of radio.” Yetnone ofthese discoveries bearhis name. As an old _man, he livedin

poverty.

THE T()RT()lSE. 'l'Hl-I l7I.F.l"llA\$T AND Till’.

l[|l‘P()l‘U'l‘A\’|lB Oneday^literorloise

mettheelephant.^who trumpeted,^"Ourofmy

way, youwmkling—

Imightstep^onyou!”

Thetortoisewas not

afraid^andstayed where hewas,sothe elephantstepped^on him,^{but couldnot} crushhim. “Donot

boast,^Mr. Elephant,¹

am asstrong^asyou are.’^"saidthetortoise, bu! theelephant just laughed.So the tortoise asked him:0come tohis hill thenexi

morning.

Thenextday, before sunrise,thetortoiseran

downthe hillto(he river,^{where hemetthe} hippopotamus,^who waxjust^onhis way backintothewater

afterhis rtoclurmzl

_feading.^“MrHippo!

Shallwehavearug~of-

war? I box I’mas

strong^asyou^are!”

said {hetortoise.The

hippopotamus laughed

atthisridiculousidea, butagreed.^Thetortoise produced^alongrope andtold/hehippo^to holdit inhis mouth untilthe tortoise shouted“Hey!”

Then the turlaiierun

back up the hill where hefound^theelephant,

whowasgettingimpa-

tient.He gave the clcpham^{Ihe arherend} ofthe rape andsaid,

“WhenIsay‘Hey!’

pull,^andyou'll^see

whichafus^isthe strongest."^{Then heran} halfwayback down the

LAW 7 ^- 57

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t0rI0i.s‘Hwax asxtrmzg:

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Never (In what orlwri‘

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58 LAW7

In

1917, during

^{his later}

impoverished

years, Tesla^wastold he ^wasto receivethe Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical

Engineers.

He turned the medal down. “You

propose,”

^he

said,

^{“tohonormewitha} medal whichIcould

pin

upon my^coatandstrutfor^avainhour before the members of your Institute. You would decorate my

body

^{and continueto}

let starve, for failure^to

supply recognition,

my mind andits creative

prod

ucts, which have

supplied

the foundation upon which^the

major portion

^of

your Institute exists.”

Interpretation

Many

harbor the illusion thatscience,

dealing

^{with factsasit}

^does,

^{is be}

yond

^the

petty

^{rivalriesthat}trouble therestof the world. Nikola Teslawas one ofthose. He believed science had

nothing

^{to do with}

politics,

^and

claimednottocarefor fame and riches. As he grew

older, though,

^thisru-

ined his scientificwork. Not associated with any

particular discovery,

^he

couldattractno investorsto his many ideas. While he

pondered

great^in- ventionsfor the

future,

others stole the

patents

^{he had}

already developed

andgot^the

glory

for themselves.

He wantedtodo

everything

^onhisown,but

merely

exhausted and^im-

poverished

himselfin the process.

EdisonwasTesla’s

polar opposite.

^{He wasn’t}

actually

^{much ofascien~}

tificthinkeror

inventor;

^{heoncesaidthathe had noneed tobeamathe-}

matician because he could

always

^{hire one. That was Fdisoifs main}

method. Hewas

really

^abusinessman and

publicist, spotting

the trends and the

opportunities

^thatwereout

there,

^then

hiring

^{the bestinthe fieldtodo}

the work for him. If he hadtohe would steal from his

competitors.

^Yethis

nameis much better known than

Tesla’s,

^andis associated with ^morein- ventions.

The lessonistwofold:

First,

the credit foraninventionorcreationisas

important,

^ifnotmore

important,

^{than theinvention}itself. Youmustsecure

the credit for

yourself

^and

keep

others from

stealing

^itaway,^orfrom

piggy—

backing

^onyour hard work. To

accomplish

this you^must

always

^be

vigilant

and

ruthless, keeping

^yourcreation

quiet

until you^canbe^surethere^{are no} vultures

circling

^overhead.

Second,

^{learnto take}

advantage

of other peo-

ple’s

^worktoFurther your ^{own cause.}Timeis

precious

^{and lifeisshort. If}

you

try

^todoitallonyour^own,you^run

yourself ragged,

^wasteenergy, and burn

yourself

^{out. Itis far better to conserve} your

forces,

pounce ^onthe work others have

done,

^{and finda}way^tomakeityour^own.

Everybody

^{steals incommerceand}

industry.

I‘ma stolena lot

myself

But I knowhow^tosteal.

'l‘horn/Ls‘I1’//lisrm, ^{I847’ I931}

KEYS TO POWER

The^worldof power^{has flue}

dynamics

^ofthe

jungle:

^{There arethose who}

live

by hunting

^and

killing,

^{and there arealso vastnumbers ofcreatures}

(hyenas, vultures)

^{who live} oil" the

hunting

^{of others. These}

latter,

^less

imaginative

types^areoften

incapable

^of

doing

^{theworkthat is}essential for thecreationof power.

They

^understand

early

^on,

though,

^thatif

they

^wait

long enough, they

^can

always

find anotheranimaltodo the work for them.

Donotbenaive:At this verymoment, whileyou^are

slaving

away^{on some}

project,

^{therearevultures}

circling

^above

trying

^to

figure

^outaway^{to sur-} viveand^eventhriveoff_your

creativity.

^{Itisuselessto}

complain

^about

^this,

or to wear

yourself ragged

^with

bitterness,

^as Tesla did. Betterto

protect yourself

^and

join

the game. Onceyou have established^apower

base,

be-

come avulture

yourself,

^andsave

yourself

^alotoftimeand energy.

Of thetwo

poles

^ofthis game,^{one can}beillustrated

by

^the

example

^of

the

explorer

^{Vasco Nunez de Balboa. Balboa had an}obsessionw-the dis- covery^{of El}

Dorado,

^a

legendary city

^{ofvastriches.}

Early

ⁱⁿ the sixteenth century, after countless

hardships

and brushes with

death,

^hefound evidence of^agreat^and

wealthy empire

^{to the south} of

Mexico,

ⁱⁿ

present—day

^Peru.

By conquering

^this

empire,

^theIncan,and

seizing

^is

gold,

^hewould make himself thenextCortes. The

problem

^was

thateven ashe madethis

discovery,

^{word ofit}

spread

among hundreds^of other

conquistadors.

^{He didnotunderstandthathalf the}game^was

keeping

it

quiet,

^and

carefiilly watching

^thosearound him. Afewyears afterhe dis- coveredthelocation of theIncan

empire,

^{asoldierinhisown}army,^Fran- ciscoPizarro,

helped

^toget^{himbeheadedfortreason. Pizarrowentonto} take whatBalboa hadspent^somany years

trying

^tofind.

Theother

pole

^isthat of the artist PeterPaul

Rubens, who,

late in his career,found himself

deluged

^withrequests^for

paintings.

^Hecreatedasys- tem: Inhis

large

^{studio he}

employed

^{dozens of}

outstanding painters,

^one

specializing

ⁱⁿ

^robes,

^anotherin

backgrounds,

^{andso on.He createdavast}

production

line in whicha

large

^{numberofcanvases}would be workedon at the ^same time. When ^an

important

^client visited the

studio,

^Rubens would shoo his hired

painters

^{out for the}

day.

^{While the client watched}

from ^a

balcony,

^{Rubenswouldworkatan}incredible pace, ^withunbeliev- able energy. The client would leave ^{in awe} of this

prodigious

^{man, who}

could

paint

^somany

masterpieces

^{insoshortatime.}

Thisistheessenceofthe Law: Loamtoget^{otherstodo thework for} youwhile youtakethe

credit,

^and_{you appear}^tobe of

godlike strength

^and

power.^Ifyou^{think it}

important

^todo all the work

yourself,

youwillnever

get far,

and you will ^{suffer the}fate of the Balboas and Teslas ofthe world.

Find

people

with the skills and

creativity

you lack.Eitherhire

them,

while

putting

your^{own nameon}

top

^of

theirs,

^{orfind a}_way^to take their work and make ityour^own.Their

creativity

^thusbecomes yours, and you^seem

a

genius

^{tothe world.}

Thereisanother

application

^{ofthis lawthatdoesnot}

require

the para- siticuse ofyour

contemporaries’

labor: Use the

past,

^avaststorehouse of

fill \ll.l\l) lll’\

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172‘) l7':4l

LAW 7 59

60‘ ^LAW7

knowledge

^and wisdom. Isaac Newton called this

“standing

^{onthe shoul-}

ders of

giants.”

^{Hemeantthatin}

making

^hisdiscoverieshe hadbuilt^onthe achievementsofothers. Agreat

part

^{of hisauraof}

genius,

^he

^knew,

^wasat-

tributableto his shrewd

ability

^{tomake themostof the}

insights

^ofancient,

medieval,

and Renaissance scientists.

Shakespeare

^borrowed

plots,

^charac- terizations, ^{and even}

dialogue

^from

^Plutarch,

among^otherwriters, ^{for he} knew that

nobody surpassed

^{Plutarchinthe}

writing

^ofsubtle

psychology

and

witty quotes.

How many later ^writers have in their ^turn borrowed

from-~plagz'anlzed——Shakespeare?

Weall know how fewof

today’s politicians

^{writetheirown}

speeches.

Theirownwords wouldnotwinthem^a

single

vote; their

eloquence

^and

wit, ^whatever there is of it,

they

^{owe to a}

speech

^{writer. Other}

people

do the

work, they

take the credit. The

upside

^ofthis is that it isa.kind of power^thatisavailable toeveryone.^Learntousethe

knowledge

^{of the}

past

and you^{will look}likea

genius,

^evenwhen you^are

really just

^aclever

borrower,

Writers who havedelvedintohumannature, ^{ancientmastersofstrat-} egy, historians of human

stupidity

^and

folly, kings

and queens who have leamed the hardway how^tohandlethe burdens of

power—-their

^knowl-

edge

^is

gathering

^dust,

waiting

for you^tocome and standontheir shoul- ders. Theirwitcanbe yourwit,^{their skillcan}_{be your}

skill,

^and

they

^will

never comearound totell

people

^how

unoriginal

you

really

^{are. You can}

slog through ^life, making

^endless

mistakes, wasting

^timeandenergy

trying

todo

things

^{from yourown}

experience.

Or you ^{can use}the armies ofthe

past.

^{As Bismarck once}

said,

“Fools say that

they

^learn

by experience.

^I

prefer

^to

profit by

^others’

experience.”

Image:

^The Vulture. Of all the creatures in the

jungle,

^{he has it} the easiest. The

hard work ofothers becomes his

work;

theirfailure to survive becomes his nourishment.

Keep

^an eye ^on

the Vulture—while_you are

hard at

work,

^{he is cir-}

cling

^{above. Donot}

fight

^him,

join

him.

Authority:

^{There ismuchtobeknown,life is}

^short,

^{and lifeis notlife}

without

knowledge.

It is therefore an excellent device to

acquire

knowledge

^from

everybody. ^Thus, by

^{thesweatof2mother’s}

^brow,

you win the

reputation

^of

being

^{an oracle.}

^{(Baltasar Gracién,} 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Thereare timeswhen

taking

^{the credit for}work that others have done is not the wisecourse: Ifyourpower is ^not

firmly enough established,

you willseem to be

pushing people

^{out ofthe}

limelight.

^{To be a.brilliantex-}

ploiter

^{of talent}your

position

^mustbe

unshakable,

^oryou ^{will be}accused of

deception.

Be sure you know when

letting

^other

people

share the credit serves

your purpose.^{It is}

especially important

^{to notbe}

greedy

^whenyou have^a masterabove you. President Richard^Nixon’shistoric visitto the

People’s Republic

^{of Chinawas}

originally

^his

^idea,

^butit

might

^{neverhavecomeoff}

but for thedeft

diploma/cy

^of

Henry Kissinger.

^{Nor wouldithavebeenas}

successful without

Kissinger’s

^skills.

^Stilh

^{when the time came to take}

credit, Kissinger adroitly

^{letNixon takethe lion’sshare.}

Knowing

^{that the}

truth wouldcomeout

later,

^{hewascarefulnot to}

jeopardize

^his

standing

ⁱⁿ

the short term

by hogging

^the

limelight. Kissinger played

^the game ^ex~

partly:

^{He tookcredit}for the work of those below him while

graciously giving

^{creditfor his own labors to} those above. That is the way^to

play

the game.

LAW 7

Q0:

LAW

MAKE OTHER PEOPLE