#125 Charles Kettering (inventor, engineer, founder)

**David Senra** (0:00)
I do know that any introduction that anyone could write to this remarkable story would be overshadowed by the substance of the narrative itself. Its significance is twofold, first, the lesson to be learned, and second, the story itself.
Progress has come about when an unusual man broke loose and independently, on his own, started something different. The usual man seldom makes inventions, or strikes out new directions, or blazes new trails, or advances our frontiers of knowledge and understanding. Such things are done by unusual men, who have a particular talent, broader vision, more imagination, more ambition, willingness to work, courage to act independently and accordingly to the force of his own convictions.
The significant thing is that while the unusual man may profit by his unusual efforts and sacrifice, in an infinitely greater measure does he contribute to the advancement of the whole. Indeed, that is the only way the whole can ever advance.
I present to you the reader, Charles F. Kettering, Farmer, School Teacher, Mechanic, Inventor, Engineer, Scientist, Social Philosopher, and Master Salesman. Okay, so that was an excerpt written by Alfred Sloan from the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Professional Amateur, The Biography of Charles Franklin Kettering, and it was written by Thomas Boyd. So just a few things before I jump into the rest of the book. When this book was first published in 1957, the title was Professional Amateur, The Biography of Charles Franklin Kettering, Kettering, I'm not sure how to pronounce his name. I'm going to call him Cat today because that was his nickname. But when it was reprinted, they changed it to Charles F. Kettering, a biography. But I think the original title, Professional Amateur, gives you a great insight into the way in which Cat approached his work. And the second thing is I'm in the middle of two multiple part series. The first series is reading a bunch of biographies for the early pioneers in the automobile industry. And the second is a multiple part series on NA. Ellison. You're going to see them appear in the order in which the books arrive. There's a lot of, I guess, disruption in the supply chain right now. And so, books are taking a lot longer than they normally do. And it's kind of unpredictable when I receive them. So I don't mean to go out of order like this. But as the books arrive, I'm just reading them and then turning them into podcasts. Okay, so let me go ahead and get into, I want to start right up front. Normally, I start in the early life. But I want to give you some brief summaries of why this, Alford Sloan did a multiple part series on him too. It's an extremely accomplished individual, and he regards Kett as a genius, as does Billy Durant calls Kett a genius, Walter Kreisler, Henry Leland, the founder of Cadillac. So what is it about this person that Sloan talks about, that Sloan referred to as an unusual, the most unusual individuals, what he calls them. So it's impossible to summarize a person, but if you had to summarize Kett, this is the way you would do it. And it says, as a symbol of progress in the American way of life, as creator of ideas and builder of industries and employment, as inspirer of men to nobler thoughts and greater accomplishments, as foe of ignorance and discouragement, as friend of learning and optimistic resolve, Charles F. Kettering stands among the greatest men of all time. So why are people saying that about him? Let me just read some of his accomplishments from his Wikipedia so you have that understanding right up front. He was an American inventor, engineer, businessman and holder of 186 patents. He was the founder of Delco and was head of research at General Motors from 1920 to 1947 Among his most widely used automotive developments were the electrical starter and leaded gasoline. He was also responsible for the invention of Freon, which is used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. He developed the world's first aerial missile, and he led the advancement of practical, lightweight two-stroke diesel engines, which revolutionized the locomotive and heavy equipment industries. So when Sloan says that he has a remarkable life story, what he means there is how does –what we're going to talk about today is how does a poor farm boy from Ohio transform himself into one of the greatest people in history? And I think a lot of that has to do with the way he approached his work and his mindset. So I want to talk about that term, professional amateur. And so a lot of what I'm going to share with you today is direct quotes from Kett. And this is him talking about why it's so important to approach your work with the mindset that you're a professional amateur. So he says, we are simply professional amateurs. We are amateurs because we are doing things for the first time. We are professional because we know we are going to have a lot of trouble. The price of progress is trouble, and I don't think the price is too high. So before I get to his early life, I want to continue this line of thought that he's having there. And I think these two excerpts are going to explain to you the way he thought. And then once you understand the way he thinks, you'll see the way he approaches work. It makes sense why he went about his career the way he did. So he says, at this time, he's running a research laboratory for GM, right? And this is many, many decades into the future. It takes him, actually, four decades to get to that point. And he's talking about why it's so important, like, why do you want a pure research laboratory within a commercial organization, right? So he says, where I work, we keep ourselves harnessed to the idea that we still have everything to learn about automobiles. And that is just a simple truth. Now, that's a hell of a statement when you think that at this time, GM is already producing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cars. He says, we don't even know what makes an automobile run.