KNOWING WHERE TO TINKER
Charlie Steinmetz was a dwarf, ugly and deformed, but he had one of the greatest minds in the field of electricity that the world has ever known. Steinmetz built the great generators for Henry Ford in his first plant in Michigan, USA.
One day these generators broke down and the plant came to a halt. They brought in a variety of engineers, mechanics and helpers, but none of them could get the generators going again.
They were losing money. So Henry Ford called Steinmetz. The genius came, seem to just putter around for a few hours, and then threw the switch that put the great Ford plant back into operation.
A few days later Henry Ford received a bill from Steinmetz for $10,000. Although Ford was a very rich man, he returned the bill with a note: "Charlie, isn't this bill just a little high for a few hours of tinkering around on those motors?"
Steinmetz returned the bill to Ford. This time it read:
"For tinkering around on the motors: $10. For knowing where to tinker: $9,990. Total: $10,000."
Henry Ford paid the bill.