Thos. J. Watson Sr. was a man driven by hope who believed that hope was a critical factor in motivating men—hope of a better future for themselves and their families. He believed that if these men sought after and worked to make that hope a reality, they would bring their corporation along with them. He knew he needed a team that understood hard work and would not shy away from it—both men and women.

On the subject of women, I must provide some details concerning these videos. I have preserved as much as I can of Thos. J. Watson Sr.’s exact words. The word “men” will appear so often, such as in “The Man Age” or in his speeches, that women may feel excluded from his comments and observations. To this I would say, “Please don’t.” It is a function of the times. Women did not get the right to vote until 1971 in Switzerland; these words are from the early 1930’s. At the time, when he looked out over his sales force, his engineers, his shop foreman and his executives, all he saw were men. Thos. J. Watson Sr., after the Great Depression, would move The IBM forward to be one of the most progressive and considerate businesses in the world in the hiring and promotion of women. He would establish a women’s sales school alongside the men’s. Then, when he met management resistance in hiring the first women graduates, he fired the entire competing class of newly trained men. There were only women left to be placed and hired.

This was certainly not fair to the men he fired but he made a point about his philosophy of “democracy in business.” It included women. In that day, difficult changes sometimes needed to be made with flair and determination; otherwise, a fundamental organizational and cultural change would never happen. It was a change he came to believe was necessary and ethical. When he made such a decision, it happened—not eventually, but right then.

“The IBM” was a better place because of it.