Charles Schwab's Challenge

Dale Carnegie tells of a mill manager whose men were not producing. The owner, whose name was Charles Schwab, asked why. The manager had no idea. "I've coaxed the men; I've punished them; I've sworn and cursed; I've threatened them with damnation and being fired. But nothing works. They just won't produce.” "How many heats did your shift make today?" Schwab asked. "Six" was his reply. Without saying another word, Schwab picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a big figure 6 on the floor. Then he walked away.

When the night shift came in, they saw the 6 and asked what it meant. "The big boss was here today," someone said. "He asked how many heats the day shift made, and we told him six. He chalked it on the floor." The next morning Schwab walked through the mill again. The night shift had rubbed out the 6 and replaced it with an even bigger 7. When the day shift reported the next day, they saw the 7. So, the night shift thought it was better than the day shift, did it? They'd show them. They pitched in furiously, and before they had left that evening, they had rubbed out the 7 and replaced it with a 10. It was a 66% increase in just twenty-four hours, and all because of Schwab's challenge. Carnegie concludes, "If you want to win spirited men to your way of thinking, throw down a challenge."