Work to Build Wisdom

How one simple mark revealed the true worth of wisdom.

Author

John Eades
November 21, 2025

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Work to Build Wisdom

If you ever come across a story or lesson that should be featured in the Optimistic Outlook, just reply to this email. My friend Dale Haas sent this one, and it is worth sharing.

In the early 1920s, a major generator at one of Henry Ford’s plants shut down production. Ford’s best engineers tried to fix it for days. Nothing worked.

So Ford called Charles Steinmetz, a brilliant engineer known for solving problems others could not solve.

Steinmetz arrived with one request. Let me study the machine.

For two days he listened, measured, and took notes. On the third morning he climbed a ladder and made a single chalk mark on the generator.

“Remove sixteen turns of wire from this coil,” he said.

The team followed his instruction. The generator roared back to life.

A week later Ford received the bill: ten thousand dollars. Surprised, he asked for an itemized invoice. Steinmetz sent this back:

Making chalk mark: $1
Knowing where to put it: $9,999

Ford paid the full amount.

See, the value was not in the chalk. It was in the wisdom behind it.

Steinmetz had the one thing no one else in the building had. Years of study. Years of mistakes. Years of experience that showed up in wisdom.

It is easy to overlook the power of accumulated wisdom, especially in a world that celebrates speed, shortcuts, and quick wins. But you must work for wisdom. You must fail to have wisdom. You must persevere to have wisdom.

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Use Your Gifts,
John Eades
Creator, The Leadership Lens & The Optimistic Outlook

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