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My Life and Work
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Henry Ford's Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry.My Life and Workis a fascinating account of the life and work of Henry Ford, as told by the man himself.
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Kindle Edition, 242 pages
Published
April 6th 2017
by Enhanced Media Publishing
(first published 1922)
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You're reading this book and you just think the whole time "man this guy is so awesome and so smart he rules." And you mention it to someone that you're reading it and they say "he was an anti-semite." And you think "oh he couldn't have been. He goes on and on about the worth of all people and he genuinely seems to care about everyone.' And then there's this one random passage in the last chapter where he basically says something like "I know we get a lot of guff for the jew thing but honestly
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Wow.
Released around 1923, except for the prices, this book could have been written yesterday.
Mr. Ford is a character with very stringent and seemingly unbending views and beliefs on life and what is right and what is wrong. He speaks with great authority and makes many sweeping statements that caused me to wonder.
But a great read!
Released around 1923, except for the prices, this book could have been written yesterday.
Mr. Ford is a character with very stringent and seemingly unbending views and beliefs on life and what is right and what is wrong. He speaks with great authority and makes many sweeping statements that caused me to wonder.
But a great read!
A book about a man who changed the world with his vision and philosophy. The book is filled with wisdom and core principles about business which are as equally valuable today as it were back then. Hord was a big believer in self-reliance, simplicity, and honest hard work. While most of the other businessmen in his industry were chasing revenue, Henry Ford was focusing on service and developing a good product that would be available for everyone. Entrepreneurs today can learn a lot from this.
Henry Fords “My life and work” was a great book. It was full of great ideas about business and life. In the book he told some about his childhood and growing up, how he grew up on his family farm but always wanted to implement smarter ideas to make his work easier. He told about his business ideas including ways he cut down weight and save money while creating an overall better product. I would recommend this book to anyone in high school or over looking for a thoughtful read that makes you
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Some interesting ideas, many of which I agree with. Nothing exceptional here though.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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The 2nd time I read this book and –again- I am impressed by Henry Ford.
Henry ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm at Dearborn, Michigan.US. He was the founder of The Ford Motor Company and the first person to develop the assembly line of mass production. He was the first person to produce a car affordable by public people.
When young, he was a very good watch repairman. At the age of twelve, he encountered a road engine one day when he was driving to town and it was that engine which took him ...more
Henry ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm at Dearborn, Michigan.US. He was the founder of The Ford Motor Company and the first person to develop the assembly line of mass production. He was the first person to produce a car affordable by public people.
When young, he was a very good watch repairman. At the age of twelve, he encountered a road engine one day when he was driving to town and it was that engine which took him ...more
Good stuff. Aside from the antisemitism
Apr 19, 2013
Eden
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of automobile and industrial history, and fans of biographies
4 stars
"The natural thing to do is to work - to recognize that prosperity and happiness can be obtained only through honest effort."
My Life and Work is the autobiography of Henry Ford, an industrialist and the founder of Ford Motor Company.
On this book, Ford starts by describing his first meeting with clockworks and automobiles and a little of his story before he founded Ford Motor Company and how he worked to make it start and grow. As the Ford Motor Company become well-established and ...more
"The natural thing to do is to work - to recognize that prosperity and happiness can be obtained only through honest effort."
My Life and Work is the autobiography of Henry Ford, an industrialist and the founder of Ford Motor Company.
On this book, Ford starts by describing his first meeting with clockworks and automobiles and a little of his story before he founded Ford Motor Company and how he worked to make it start and grow. As the Ford Motor Company become well-established and ...more
This is gold.
I had hoped but never imagined to the extent that Henry Ford was the real deal entrepreneur. Ford was the original engineer who embraced the power of economic markets to further his aims for humanity. His life, work, schools and systems of education are awe inspiring.
Young farmer Ford took 12 years until he created the model T. His first car was hellishly noisy, had no reverse, two gears and bicycle wheels. He thought farmers would appreciate his automated trawlers but instead ...more
I had hoped but never imagined to the extent that Henry Ford was the real deal entrepreneur. Ford was the original engineer who embraced the power of economic markets to further his aims for humanity. His life, work, schools and systems of education are awe inspiring.
Young farmer Ford took 12 years until he created the model T. His first car was hellishly noisy, had no reverse, two gears and bicycle wheels. He thought farmers would appreciate his automated trawlers but instead ...more
I was really inspired in the first half of the book, but I found the second to be very repetitive.
Pretty nice. Interesting facts on how Ford started his own business. Allowed me to re-think some key items regarding your own path and how you should live your life.
Inspiring, but written in old English and not so much an autobiography. Only the first chapter highlights some details about his life. The rest are just his thoughts on business and on life.
Gets boring from the middle.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A great look into Ford's mind. This man was a hardcore industrialist, business all day, every day.
His level of practicality was bordering on insanity. The lightness and simplicity of step by step solutions that were actually put to practice leaves you awestruck, even after 100 years.
He took no prisoners, he described his friend Edison as a brilliant scientist but basically a sh*t businessman: "I am not sure that he is not also the world's worst business man. He knows almost nothing of ...more
His level of practicality was bordering on insanity. The lightness and simplicity of step by step solutions that were actually put to practice leaves you awestruck, even after 100 years.
He took no prisoners, he described his friend Edison as a brilliant scientist but basically a sh*t businessman: "I am not sure that he is not also the world's worst business man. He knows almost nothing of ...more
Not good.
Only upto page no 96 his biography exists that too also on very broad level without much details of struggle and challenges. Except 4-5 points which were really the meat in this whole book everything is rushed up.
Rest of the book is his views of various things like money, Soceity, people, poverty etc. which are way too outdated as per today’s law and culture.
You will be able to find more details about his achievements, personal and professional life on google in 5 mins rather than ...more
Only upto page no 96 his biography exists that too also on very broad level without much details of struggle and challenges. Except 4-5 points which were really the meat in this whole book everything is rushed up.
Rest of the book is his views of various things like money, Soceity, people, poverty etc. which are way too outdated as per today’s law and culture.
You will be able to find more details about his achievements, personal and professional life on google in 5 mins rather than ...more
When you realized that it was published on 1922 and rules has still a lot of sense for today business it is much bigger fun in reading.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Henry Ford has an undying passion, urge to simplify things and is obsessed with quality, minimalism and ethics, the kind of qualities you look for in a role model. In this super-cool business management book Ford explains how he made commercial motor cars at large scale possible, the humongous challenges he faced and a variety of morons he had to deal with.
Ford's take on ideas are amusing. It is the hallmark of an intelligent man when he says ...more
Ford's take on ideas are amusing. It is the hallmark of an intelligent man when he says ...more
I've been working at Ford for one year. I am glad to join this great company, so as to drive me to read the book: My life and work, Henry Ford.
I am very impressed by his profound viewpoints on how to make things cheaply in Chapter 5, some of which are useful and predictive nowadays.
First of all, I will detail his smart replies to two questions.
One was if in the mass-production manufacturing fewer men were used, how were they going to find jobs and live. Think about this question was raised by ...more
I am very impressed by his profound viewpoints on how to make things cheaply in Chapter 5, some of which are useful and predictive nowadays.
First of all, I will detail his smart replies to two questions.
One was if in the mass-production manufacturing fewer men were used, how were they going to find jobs and live. Think about this question was raised by ...more
The book sparkles when Ford draws on the golden hoards of Christendom for pearls of wisdom, but these are tragically shaken together with godless progressive tripe. The result reads like the inconsistent ramblings of an old man who has forgotten God, and takes credit for his own success.
On the one hand, he does acknowledge human depravity in quotes like this: "The money question has first place in multitudes of minds of all degrees or power, but a glance at most of the cure-all systems shows how ...more
On the one hand, he does acknowledge human depravity in quotes like this: "The money question has first place in multitudes of minds of all degrees or power, but a glance at most of the cure-all systems shows how ...more
"We do not prefer cripples—but we have demonstrated that they can earn full wages"
Henry Ford was undoubtedly an "enlightened capitalist". His thinking and philosophy comes out lucidly in his autobiography. He was well ahead of his times and that is why he could innovate and serve. For him, service was the key. For him "Business is a process of give and take, live and let live. It is cooperation among many forces and interest". He hated socialism (read communism as it was emerging in the Soviet Union) yet he believed that "If at any time became a question between lowering
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"Poverty cannot be abolished by formula; it can be abolished only by hard and intelligent work." (Henry Ford, My Life and Work, Page 140.)
Great book from the man who brought us the modern assembly line and affordable cars for the masses. If it wasn't for Henry Ford, we may be all walking today and only the rich would be driving cars. Henry Ford was a world changer and as you study this book, you get to look in the mind of this superachiever. What a privilege!
He talks on many subjects: fear, ...more
Great book from the man who brought us the modern assembly line and affordable cars for the masses. If it wasn't for Henry Ford, we may be all walking today and only the rich would be driving cars. Henry Ford was a world changer and as you study this book, you get to look in the mind of this superachiever. What a privilege!
He talks on many subjects: fear, ...more
An incredibly insightful account of Ford's thinking by himself. It is mind-opening to see how the greatest capitalists see the world, including hot topics such as work/labor, the condition of man, the role of production and profit in society, their social responsibility, government, charity, etc.
Read it if you want to go beyond the low-level criticism that floods newpapers and pundits reviews today. There is so much more to being "great" and "enlightened" than many a critic would like you to ...more
Read it if you want to go beyond the low-level criticism that floods newpapers and pundits reviews today. There is so much more to being "great" and "enlightened" than many a critic would like you to ...more
This is a truly amazing book with tons of great insights into building great companies, efficient manufacturing and general organization of society.
Ford's philosophy of business is really quite simple:
1. The goal of business is to create consumables that customers derive real value from.
2. The pathway from raw materials to consumables should be as short and efficient as possible. This was perhaps the point Ford emphasised the strongest: constantly strive to remove all waste, whether that be waste in the form of effort, energy, raw materials, or whatever.
3. Efficiency is best achieved by specialisation. The company should find a niche, ...more
1. The goal of business is to create consumables that customers derive real value from.
2. The pathway from raw materials to consumables should be as short and efficient as possible. This was perhaps the point Ford emphasised the strongest: constantly strive to remove all waste, whether that be waste in the form of effort, energy, raw materials, or whatever.
3. Efficiency is best achieved by specialisation. The company should find a niche, ...more
When considering the most successful and influential businessmen of the 20th century, Henry Ford certainly comes to mind. Many entrepreneurs and businessmen of later times have arguably been influenced by how Ford ran his business and how he created the world's most prosperous automobile company. In Ford's autobiography "My Life and Work" the reader gets thrown into the early beginnings of the Ford Motor Company and its evolution. Asked the question if it was tough to build his company Ford
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My life and work
Allama Muhammad Yousuf Gabriel
Born on 17th February, 1917, the day and month of Noah’s Deluge, in Valley Khabekki ,Soan Sakaser, Khoshab, and absconded from the school despite a memory so keen as to remember a scene seen when but an infant a few months old, and causing by my desertion from the school causing a school to my father who succumbed to the grief and died.
In my 25 year after seeing a dream I began the study, and learned languages, English, Persian, Arabic and Urdu ...more
I had no idea Henry Ford was so articulate.
This isn't a true biography, but I delved in believing it would be. I always set an annual goal to read at least one bio/memoir. This was more like a memoir of a specific period in his Ford's life. Namely, the years in which he set up the auto manufacturing business and its progress over the years. The book was originally published in 1912.
Ford writes about, not only the story of Ford Motor Company, but also his philosophies for business, ...more
This isn't a true biography, but I delved in believing it would be. I always set an annual goal to read at least one bio/memoir. This was more like a memoir of a specific period in his Ford's life. Namely, the years in which he set up the auto manufacturing business and its progress over the years. The book was originally published in 1912.
Ford writes about, not only the story of Ford Motor Company, but also his philosophies for business, ...more
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Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the
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“There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail”
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“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one...”
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