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Thomas Edison: Brilliant or a bully who always had to be right?

Thomas Edison: Brilliant or a bully who always had to be right?

Much of his success was built on the efforts of others

George Pillari
September 26, 2024

Read time 1m50s

Thomas Edison had no formal education. He was not a scientist but a brilliant mind that was a businessperson first. He built an invention factory and employed hundreds of scientists. Each employee signed a contract that said in exchange for work performed and payment received, Edison would be credited for any patents. He is on more than 1,000 patents.

Thomas Edison

You may never have heard of Granville Woods, but he was a prominent inventor in the heyday of late 1800s along with Edison, Westinghouse, and others. Edison sued Woods not once, but two times trying to claim that the telegraph that Woods built for communications on the trains was Edison’s. Edison was unsuccessful in both suits.

The Tesla Coil. An experiment in electricity transport

You probably have heard of Nikola Tesla, another brilliant inventor who went to work for Edison. Tesla quit after he said Edison backed out of a deal to pay him handsomely for Tesla’s work on electricity. At the time, Edison and George Westinghouse were creating competing methods for transporting electricity. Edison went to great lengths to prove that the Westinghouse method was dangerous.

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Edison went so far as to electrocute and kill an elephant to prove his rival’s method was flawed.

After he quit Edison’s shop, Tesla went to work for Westinghouse and was instrumental in perfecting Westinghouse’s method of electricity transport that became (and still is) the global standard known as alternating current or AC.

So, what’s the point? History has painted Edison as hero. But, the facts take us in a different direction. A hero maybe. Ruthless, yes. Intimidating, yes. And so intent on being right, he drove his empire into shambles.

Edison never let go of his losing battle to become the electricity standard and it wound up costing him control of his company. His own investor (JP Morgan) forced the company into a merger that created a new company known as The General Electric Company — you may have heard of it.

Key Takeaways

Its dangerous to always be right. We cannot help but believe we are smarter and better than everybody else. It also makes it difficult-to-impossible to admit when we are wrong.
Edison’s story is one cautionary tale from a rich history of situations where one person is left unchecked to subsequently ruin a business, a family, or a country. Avoid situations where there is nobody who will stand up to the bully.
Its OK to be wrong, it happens all the time on less-important issues. But when there is a Tectonic Decision at hand, be sure you have buy-in and participation from everybody that matters. Its not CYA, its using your brain and avoiding stupidity.

Train Your Brain

What is a single point of failure?

www.stupid.blog/p/train-brain