My Life and Work Paperback – September 20, 2020

I love it .......not because it's a well written book, it's not, but if you want to get a feel for the mindset of Henry Ford this is a great book. Moralistic, paternalistic, industrialist, engineer and disdainful of financiers/Jews ( two chapters on the evils of money men) Henry Ford covers all these topics with a 90 year old perspective. I want to be clear. I'm not judging Henry Ford from the viewpoint of 2017. I'm trying to understand the viewpoint of a great innovator , industrialist and tycoon from the perspective of 1931.Today's Chinese government would love Henry Ford and are currently doing pretty much what he expoused. I don't know if it's because of convergent circumstances in both Chinese current economies/rural to industrial societal changes and Henry Ford's United States or deeper issues that I can't cover in an Amazon review. Either way the book , if read critically, has a lot of similarities with modern problems.In the last Chapter Henry Ford ruminates on what will happen to men when all needs are met by modern industrialization, very poignant for today's society.

It's not that anything included in this book is obviously untrue, but that it's so much less than the real story behind the Ford empire's founding. So this is not the book for someone looking for the unvarnished facts. Quite a lot of it reads like propaganda. Or Ford's attempts to answer his critics at the time, who felt that his methods were dehumanizing society (as well as polluting the earth).Still, I don't say this as a criticism, but to let you know what you're getting with this book. This is Ford's story of how he started out in the world and became a successful businessman. He is presenting himself in his best light, which is excusable, seeing that this is an autobiography. But it's also a kind of guidebook offered to the business world at large, because it contains Ford's economic, political, and social manifestoes. He is trying to advise the world how to improve itself -- reduce waste, increase wealth (for all), eliminate unemployment, and promote social health and harmony, for example.There's plenty of idealism, which I found surprising. Ford defends his less attractive methods (like the working conditions inside his factories) as being the lower rungs on a ladder which will one day reach to the heavens. The core of his philosophy revolves around doing things smarter, eliminating waste, and preventing graft. Working on these issues will benefit the company in question, which will in turn benefit the workers, which will in turn enrich society as a whole and destroy all the great social ills of his time and ours. It's a reasonable argument.But as many reviews of this book have failed to indicate objective material, here is what I found: a pattern of racist ideology throughout the work, starting with Ford's fervent belief that "not all men are created equal." He believes some people can do no better than sweep streets or clean toilets, and so should not be promoted past their station. This idea is then extended to whole races -- some are better suited to management positions, for example, than others, though he does advocate the promoting of exceptional individuals. Also, he seems to indicate as an indisputable fact of history pernicious Jewish influence on society -- both in America and abroad. He thinks that it is a matter of their inferior culture tainting superior ones. Which is kind of what Hitler thought, too. He also does not favor women in the workplace.But if you can get past that, or least consider Ford's failings as distinct from his successes, you will probably find this a fascinating book. I know I did. Intelligent, thoughtful, concise, and well-written. Clear-headed. Wise. And many of Ford's ideas as relevant today as when he first began to form them. .

Reading this book has been a life changing experience for me.Henry Ford begins by laying out his background (which he'll keep smattering here & there).Then he gets into the meat of the book which is plotting his journey from the kernel of an idea to execution and ultimate growth.The majority of the book is him sharing his worldview on manufacturing & business best practices. If you're an entrepreneur then I assure you that you'll be taken to dizzying heights at this point.The thrust of the book is that you get to see patterns of timeless business principles that still apply today.Henry Fore of course also shares his philosophy on society, governance & capitalism. I honestly skipped some of these segments that kept droning on.The one big takeaway that has altered my entrepreneurial mind is this: Business doesn't exist for profit first. It exists to serve mankind & by doing so makes more than it ever could while focused solely on profitability.He gives illustration after illustration of how the Ford motor company would continually work to lower price each year to make the car accessible & in doing so grow to great heights. A total contradiction to today's greedy company cultures.This book shout be on your shelf or read list. Definitely taking another run at it.

On of the best books you can ever read.Gives you the information and provides the insight into how to get to conclusions

Thoughts of one of the greatest. Long sighted man, with a valuable understanding of what true business is…. a fair service to others.

Every young aspiring person in any field of life ought to read this. Although "Henry Ford" was the "automobile man", his thoughts in regards to work, money, success, prestige etc are so unique, so inspiring and so visionary that reading this book becomes a must.It marvels me to no end that all these thoughts Henry Ford had envisioned and actually practiced about 100 years before today. .. Ford was a practical man. He had contempt for mere theorists and perhaps rightly so. For any knowledge is useless if it can't be brought to everyday practice. ..Well, Ford was a genius and mankind owes a great deal to him for the kind of convenience and prosperity it enjoys today. Ford invented the modern age and transformed the way Humanity lives forever.My humble tribute to the great man forever.!! A must read book.

Buen producto, de buena calidad, llegó en tiempo y forma

Gostei muito deste livro. A filosofia de Henry Ford era bem sofisticada para a época e até mesmo para os dias de hoje. Sua exaltação do serviço ao cliente e uma política agressiva de preço baixo dos produtos para que todos tenham acesso a eles é louvável!Sua visão humanista do trabalhador ter acesso aos bens produzidos, o crescimento profissional por mérito e o trabalho de deficientes físicos na linha de produção é brilhante!Gostei bastante, sendo muito esclarecedor para mim.