Chapter 1 : Creative Vision
A Philosopher said, “The imagination is the workshop of man wherein is fashioned the pattern of all his achievements.” Another thinker described it as “the workshop of the soul wherein man’s hopes and desires are made ready for material expression.”
This chapter describes the methods by which some of the great leaders of America have, through the application of Creative Vision, made the American way of life the envy of the world.
This chapter begins in the private study of Andrew Carnegie in 1908, with me, Napoleon Hill, as the student and reporter.
HILL : Mr. Carnegie, you have said that Creative Vision is one of the principles of individual achievement. Will you analyze this principle and describe how one may make practical use of it?
CARNEGIE : First of all, let us have a clear understanding of the meaning of the term “Creative Vision,” as we are here using it, by explaining that this is not merely another name for imagination. It is the ability to recognize opportunities and take action to benefit from them. An important element of Creative Vision is the use of the imagination.
There are two types of imagination. One is known as synthetic imagination and the other as creative imagination.
Synthetic imagination consists of the act of combining recognized ideas, concepts, plans, facts, and principles in new arrangements. The old axiom “There is nothing new under the sun” grew out of the fact that the majority of things which seem to be new are nothing but a rearrangement of that which is old. Practically a... See more
Chapter 1 : Creative Vision
A Philosopher said, “The imagination is the workshop of man wherein is fashioned the pattern of all his achievements.” Another thinker described it as “the workshop of the soul wherein man’s hopes and desires are made ready for material expression.”
This chapter describes the methods by which some of the great leaders of America have, through the application of Creative Vision, made the American way of life the envy of the world.
This chapter begins in the private study of Andrew Carnegie in 1908, with me, Napoleon Hill, as the student and reporter.
HILL : Mr. Carnegie, you have said that Creative Vision is one of the principles of individual achievement. Will you analyze this principle and describe how one may make practical use of it?
CARNEGIE : First of all, let us have a clear understanding of the meaning of the term “Creative Vision,” as we are here using it, by explaining that this is not merely another name for imagination. It is the ability to recognize opportunities and take action to benefit from them. An important element of Creative Vision is the use of the imagination.
There are two types of imagination. One is known as synthetic imagination and the other as creative imagination.
Synthetic imagination consists of the act of combining recognized ideas, concepts, plans, facts, and principles in new arrangements. The old axiom “There is nothing new under the sun” grew out of the fact that the majority of things which seem to be new are nothing but a rearrangement of that which is old. Practically all the patents recorded in the Patent Office are nothing more than old ideas which have been arranged in a new order, or given a new use. Patents which do not come under this heading are known as “basic patents” and they are the work of Creative Imagination; that is, they are based on newly created ideas which have not been previously used or recognized.
Creative Imagination has its source, as far as science has been able to determine, in the subconscious mind, wherein exists, through some power unknown to science, the ability to perceive and interpret new ideas. It is believed, by some, that the faculty of Creative Imagination truly is “the workshop of the soul.” Of one fact we can be sure, and that is the undeniable reality of the existence of a faculty of the mind through which some men perceive and interpret new ideas never before known to man. Later I shall cite well-known examples of such ability. Moreover, I shall endeavor to describe how this ability may be developed and made to serve practical ends.
HILL : Which of the two types of imagination is used more often in the field of industry, and in the ordinary walks of life?
CARNEGIE : Synthetic imagination is more commonly used. Creative imagination, as the name implies, is used only by those who have attained the means to apply this unusual skill.
HILL : Will you mention examples of the application of both types of imagination, giving as many of the details as possible in order that the practical methods of application of these principles may be understood?
CARNEGIE : Well, let us take the work of Thomas A. Edison, for example. By studying his achievements we shall see how he made use of both types of imagination, although he used the synthetic type more often.
His first invention to attract worldwide attention was created by bringing together, in a new combination, two old and well-known principles. I refer to the incandescent electric lamp, the perfection of which was attained only after Mr. Edison had tried more than ten thousand different combinations of old ideas without satisfactory results.
HILL : Do you mean, Mr. Carnegie, that Mr. Edison had the persistence to keep on trying in the face of ten thousand failures?
CARNEGIE : Yes, I mean just that! And I may as well here call your attention to the fact that men with a keen sense of imagination seldom quit trying until they find the answer to their problems.
Mr. Edison perfected the incandescent electric lamp by combining two well-known principles in a new way. The first of these principles was the established fact that by applying electric energy to both ends of a piece of wire a resistance is established through which the wire becomes heated to a white glow that will produce light. That principle had been known long before the time of Mr. Edison’s experiments with the electric lamp, but the trouble arose from the fact that no way had been found to control the heat. Perhaps the facts would be better understood if I said that no form of metal or other substance had been found that could carry the necessary amount of heat to make a satisfactory light for more than a few seconds. The intense heat of the electricity soon burned out the metal.
After trying every known substance he could find, without discovering anything that would serve the desired purpose, Mr. Edison stumbled upon another well-known principle which proved to be the answer to his problem. I say he “stumbled” upon it, but perhaps that is not the precise way the principle came to his attention. Of that I shall have more to say later on. At any rate, there came into his mind the well-known principle by which charcoal is produced, and he recognized in it the answer to the problem that had caused him more than ten thousand failures.
Briefly explained, charcoal is produced by placing a pile of wood on the ground, setting it on fire, and then covering the whole pile with dirt. The dirt permits just enough air to pass through to the fire to keep it alive and smoldering but not enough to enable the fire to blaze. The smoldering process continues until the wood becomes charred through and through, leaving the log intact, in the form of a substance known as charcoal.
You of course learned, in the study of physics, that where there is no oxygen there can be no fire; that by controlling the inflow of oxygen the amount of heat of the fire can be controlled proportionately.
Mr. Edison had known of this principle long before he began experimenting with the electric lamp, but not until after he had gone through thousands of tests did he think of it as being the principle for which he was searching.
As soon as this principle was recognized as the one for which he was searching, he went into his laboratory, placed a coiled wire in a bottle, pumped out all the air, sealed the bottle with wax, applied the electric energy to the two ends of the wire, and lo! the world’s first successful incandescent electric lamp was born. The crudely constructed lamp burned for more than eight hours.
Of course it is obvious as to what had happened. By placing the wire in a vacuum that contained no oxygen it could be heated sufficiently to cause it to produce a light without its burning out entirely, as it had done when left in the open air. That same principle is used in the making of all incandescent electric lamps today, although the method has been greatly refined until the modern electric lamp is much more efficient than it was when Edison first discovered how to control the heat.
Now, let us go back to the question as to how Mr. Edison came to think of combining these two old principles in a new way. I said he “stumbled” upon the idea of using the charcoal principle as a means of controlling the heat of the electric energy. But that is not exactly the way this idea occurred to him.
Here begins, then, the entry into the picture of the principle of creative imagination. By his repetition of thought in connection with his problem, carried on over a long period of time, through thousands of experiments, Mr. Edison either consciously or unconsciously charged his subconscious mind with a clear picture of his problem, and, by some queer power which no one understands, his subconscious mind handed over to him the solution to his problem, in the form of a “hunch” that caused him to think of the charcoal principle.
In describing the experience many years afterward, Mr. Edison said that when the “hunch” came to him he recognized it immediately as being the missing link for which he had been searching. Moreover, he felt assured it would work, even before he tested it. He made the further significant statement that when the idea of using the charcoal principle “flashed into his mind” it brought with it a feeling of assurance of its suitability such as did not accompany any one of the other thousands of similar ideas he had tested, through synthetic imagination.
From this statement we may draw the conclusion that the subconscious mind not only has the power to create the solution to problems, but it also has a means of forcing one to recognize the solution when it is presented to the conscious mind.
Wherever you find a prosperous business, you will come upon some individual who has Creative Vision.
HILL : From what you have said, Mr. Carnegie, I conclude that persistence was of the essence of Mr. Edison’s discovery of the solution to his problem.
CARNEGIE : Yes, and some other factors, too. First of all, he began his research with definiteness of purpose, thus applying perhaps the most important of the principles of individual achievement. He knew the nature of his problem, but equally as important as this, he was determined to find its solution. Therefore he backed his definiteness of purpose with an obsessional desire for its attainment. Obsessional desire is the state of mind which serves to clear the mind of fear and doubt and self-imposed limitations, thereby opening the way for that state of mind known as Faith. By his refusal to accept defeat, through more than ten thousand failures, Mr. Edison prepared his mind for the application of Faith.
HILL : Were all of Mr. Edison’s inventions created through the joint application of creative imagination and synthetic imagination, as in the case of the incandescent electric lamp?
CARNEGIE : Oh, no! Not by any means. The majority of his inventions were created solely through the aid of synthetic imagination, by the trial-and-error method of experimentation. But he did complete one invention solely through the aid of creative imagination, and as far as I know, this was the only invention he perfected through this principle alone. I have reference to the phonograph. That was a new idea. No one before Edison, as far as is known, had ever produced a machine that would record and reproduce the vibrations of sound.
HILL : What technique did Mr. Edison use in the application of creative imagination in perfecting the talking machine?
CARNEGIE : The technique was very simple. He impressed his subconscious mind with the idea of a talking machine and there passed over to his conscious mind a perfect plan for the building of such a machine.
HILL : Do you mean that Edison relied on creative imagination entirely?
CARNEGIE : Yes, entirely! And one of the strange features of this particular invention of Mr. Edison’s is the fact that the plan which his subconscious mind yielded to him worked almost from the first attempt to apply it. The idea of how such a machine could be produced “flashed” into Edison’s mind. He sat down then and there and drew a rough picture of the machine, handed it to his model maker and asked him to produce the machine, and in a matter of hours it had been finished, tested, and lo! it worked. Of course the machine was crude, but it was sufficient to prove that Edison’s creative imagination had not failed him.
HILL : You say that Mr. Edison “impressed his subconscious mind” with the idea of a talking machine. Now, how did he go about doing this, and how long did it require before his subconscious mind handed over to him the working principle of the machine?
CARNEGIE : I am not sure that Mr. Edison stated exactly how long he had been thinking of such a machine before his subconscious mind picked up his thoughts and translated them into a perfected plan, but I am under the impression it was not more than a few weeks, at most. Perhaps not more than a few days. His method of impressing his subconscious mind with his desire consisted of the simple procedure of converting that desire into an obsession. That is, the thought of a machine that would record and reproduce sound became the dominating thought of his mind. He focused his mind on it, through concentration of his interest, and made it the major occupant of his mind from day to day until this form of autosuggestion penetrated his subconscious mind and registered a clear picture of his desire.
HILL : Is that the way one connects the conscious mind with the subconscious, Mr. Carnegie?
CARNEGIE : Yes, that is the simplest known method. You see, therefore, why I have emphasized the importance of intensifying one’s desires until they become obsessional. A deep, burning desire is picked up by the subconscious and acted upon much more definitely and quickly than an ordinary desire. A mere wish appears to make no impression on the subconscious! Many people become confused as to the difference between a wish and a burning desire which has been stimulated into obsessional proportions by the repetition of thought in connection with the desire.
HILL : If I understand you correctly, Mr. Carnegie, the element of repetition is important. Why?
CARNEGIE : Because repetition of thought creates “thought habits” in the mind which cause the mind to go right on working on an idea without one’s conscious effort. Apparently the subconscious concerns itself first with those thoughts which have become habits and especially if the thoughts have been strongly emotionalized by a deep and burning desire for their realization.
HILL : Then anyone may make use of creative imagination by the simple process of charging his subconscious mind with definite desires?
CARNEGIE : Yes, there is nothing to hinder anyone from using this principle, but you must remember that practical results are obtained only by those who have gained discipline over their thought habits, through the process of concentration of interest and desire. Fleeting thoughts which come and go intermittently, and mere wishes, which are about the extent of the average person’s thinking, make no impression whatsoever on the subconscious mind.
HILL : Will you mention some additional examples of the practical application of the two types of imagination?
CARNEGIE : Well, take the experience of Henry Ford, in connection with his perfection of a self-propelled vehicle, for example. The idea of such a vehicle was first suggested to him by a steam-propelled tractor that was being used to haul a threshing machine. From the first time that he saw the tractor his mind began to work on the idea of a horseless buggy.
At first he used only the principle of synthetic imagination by centering his mind on ways and means of converting the steam tractor into a rapid-moving vehicle for the transportation of passengers. The idea became obsessional with him, and it had the effect of conveying his burning desire to his subconscious mind where it was picked up and acted upon. The action of the subconscious mind suggested to him the use of an internal combustion engine to take the place of the steam engine, and he went to work immediately on the creation of such an engine. Of course he had the experiments of other men in connection with internal combustion gas engines as a guide, but his problem was to find a way to convey the power of the engine to the wheels of a vehicle. He kept his mind charged with his major purpose until, step by step, his subconscious mind presented him with ideas with which he perfected the planetary system of power transmission which enabled him to perfect his first working model of an automobile.
HILL : Will you describe the major factors which entered into the modus operandi of Mr. Ford’s mind while he was perfecting the automobile?
CARNEGIE : Yes, that will be very easy. And when I describe them you will have a clear understanding of the working principles used by all successful men, as well as a clear picture of the Ford mind, viz.:
a) Mr. Ford was motivated by a definite purpose, which is the first step in all individual achievements.
b) He stimulated his purpose into an obsession by concentrating his thoughts upon it.
c) He converted his purpose into definite plans, through the principle of Organized Individual Endeavor, and put his plans into action with unabating persistence.
d) He made use of the Master Mind principle, first, by the harmonious aid of his wife, and second, by gaining counsel from others who had experimented with internal combustion engines and methods of power transmission. Still later, of course, when he began to produce automobiles for sale, he made a still more extensive use of the Master Mind principle by allying himself with the Dodge brothers and other mechanics and engineers skilled in the sort of mechanical problems he had to solve.
e) Back of all this effort was the power of Applied Faith, which he acquired as the result of his intense desire for achievement in connection with his Definite Major Purpose.
HILL : Summarized briefly, Mr. Ford’s success was due to his having adopted a Definite Major Purpose which he fanned into a white heat flame of obsession, thus leading to the stimulation of both the faculties of synthetic imagination and creative imagination. Does that state the facts?
CARNEGIE : That tells the story in one sentence! The part of the story that should be emphasized is the fact that Mr. Ford moved with persistence! At first he met with one form of defeat after another. One of his major difficulties was lack of capital with which to carry on his research, before he perfected his automobile. After that came a still greater difficulty in connection with procuring the necessary operating capital to produce his automobiles in quantity production. Then followed a series of difficulties, such as disagreements with the members of his Master Mind group, and other similar problems, all of which called for persistence and determination. These qualities Mr. Ford possesses, and I think we might say that he owes his success to his ability to know exactly what he wants and his capacity to stand by his wants with unrelenting persistence.
If one single quality stands out in the Ford character, above all others, it is his capacity for persistence. Let me remind you, again, that definiteness of purpose, backed with a form of persistence that assumes the proportion of an obsession, is the greatest of all stimulants of both the synthetic and the creative forms of imagination. The mind of man is provided with a power which forces the subconscious mind to accept and to act upon obsessional desires that are definitely planned.
HILL : Will you now cite some other examples of the practical application of imagination?
CARNEGIE : Take, for example, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell’s research in connection with the modern telephone. Here we have an example of the use of creative imagination, for Bell’s invention was new. Let us say that he, like Edison, “stumbled” upon the principle that made the telephone practical, while searching for some mechanical device with which he could create a hearing aid for his wife, whose hearing was impaired.
Here, again, we find a man who was inspired by a definite purpose which assumed obsessional proportions. His keen sympathy for his wife was the factor that gave obsessional force to his purpose. In this case, as in all others where men give obsessional proportions to their desires, a definite motive was behind his desire. Motive is the beginning of all desires.
Through a long period of research that is too involved in details for description here, Dr. Bell’s subconscious mind finally presented him with an idea which served his purpose. It became known to the scientific world as Bell’s experiment, the substance of which was this:
A ray of light is cast upon a plate of selenium, which sends the ray back to another plate—some distance away—of the same metal. This latter communicates with a galvanic battery, to which a telephone is attached. The words uttered behind the first plate are distinctly heard through the telephone at the end of the second plate. The ray of light, accordingly, has served as a telephone wire. The sound waves have become transformed into light waves, the latter into galvanic waves, and these have become once again sound waves.
Thus a new principle for conveying sound waves was uncovered. It has been claimed that the principle, in part, was suggested to Dr. Bell by the experiments of a man by the name of Dolbear. There was a lawsuit over the priority of right to the principle, but Mr. Dolbear lost the suit, and Dr. Bell was declared to have been the discoverer of the working principle of the modern telephone.
At any rate Dr. Bell’s desire for a mechanical hearing aid for his wife, backed by a persistent search for such a device, led to the discovery of the principle he needed. It must be remembered that the subconscious mind makes use of every practical means available for revealing knowledge to those seeking it with obsessional desire. It performs no miracles, but it makes intelligent use of all practical media available in carrying out its purpose.
HILL : Now, Mr. Carnegie, let us get away from the field of invention and see how the principle of imagination may be applied in the less complicated fields of endeavor.
CARNEGIE : Very well, take for example the first great mail-order house that was established in the United States. Here we have a fine example of synthetic imagination applied to merchandising.
A telegraph operator with whom I formerly worked found that he had extra time on his hands which he could not use in connection with his duties as railroad telegrapher. Being a man with an inquisitive type of mind, he began to search for something he could do that would keep him occupied and at the same time add to his income. Here, again, the question of motive entered the picture, the motive of financial gain.
After having turned the matter over in his mind for several months, he envisioned a profitable outlet for his efforts by using the idle telegraph line for the purpose of selling watches to his fellow operators in his division, so he ordered half a dozen watches, at wholesale rates, and began to offer them for sale. The idea caught fire from the very beginning. In a very short time he had sold all six of the watches. Then, spurred on by his success, his imagination began to expand until he took on other items of jewelry. Everything went well, and he was doing a land-office business, until his superintendent found out what he was up to and fired him on the spot.
Every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent benefit! Out of this telegrapher’s adversity was born the first great mail-order house. He switched his method of selling from telegraphy to the mails, using at first a mimeographed catalogue of his wares. Moreover, he added others outside the field of telegraphers to his list of prospective buyers, mainly people living in the villages and rural districts. In a little while his business had grown to where he could afford a printed catalogue illustrated with pictures of his merchandise. From that point on the story is known to millions of people throughout the United States who now purchase merchandise from the mail-order house he established.
He then took a partner into the business with him, thereby making use of the Master Mind principle. This partner proved to be a veritable gold mine because he had a keen sense of advertising. Several years later the business was sold out to a corporation at a price which made its owners multimillionaires. That was the beginning of mail-order merchandising on a large scale.
Now, there was nothing very mysterious about this man’s success. He simply put his mind to work on a definite purpose and kept behind that purpose until it made him rich. He did not create anything new. He merely put an old idea to a new use. In this manner many of the great fortunes have been accumulated.
HILL : If I understand you correctly, Mr. Carnegie, the telegraph operator applied only the principle of synthetic imagination. Is that correct?
CARNEGIE : Yes, that is it. You see, he did nothing except apply the principle of merchandising in a new way; but do not forget that this is about all that most successful men do. Rarely do men create new ideas, through the application of creative imagination, as Dr. Bell and Mr. Edison did.
Now let us take the modern railroad refrigerator car, for example. The man who first made practical application of this principle revolutionized the meatpacking business. He was a packer whose business was limited due to the fact that he could ship fresh meat only a short distance. Motivated by a desire to extend his business over a greater territory, he began to search for a suitable method.
A man generally finds whatever he is looking for if he gives his desire obsessional proportions. Well, this packer was motivated by the desire for larger financial gains, so he kept his mind on his problem until it occurred to him to convert an ordinary railroad boxcar into an oversized icebox. There was nothing left to be done except to go to work and experiment with the idea, which he proceeded to do. The plan worked satisfactorily, although the first refrigerator car was a very crude affair. He kept on improving his idea until he had refined it into the modern refrigerator car, as we know it today. His idea not only helped him to extend his meat business almost without limitation, but it gave a new impetus to the sale and distribution of other lines of merchandise, particularly fruits and vegetables, until today that single idea has added hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth to individuals, corporations, and the nation as a whole.
The refrigerator car was brought into existence solely by the application of synthetic imagination, through the simple process of placing an icebox on wheels, so to speak.
George Pullman performed a similar feat by placing beds in railroad coaches, thus converting them into sleeping quarters. There was nothing new about either the beds or the railroad coaches; but the idea of combining these two types of service was new. The new combination made the man who created it an immense fortune, to say nothing of providing thousands of jobs for others and a desirable service for the traveling public, for which it continues to pay a huge sum annually. Ideas, such as these, are the products of imagination. The man who trains his mind to create ideas, or to give old ideas a new and better use, is well on the road toward economic independence.
Back of these ideas was the personal initiative of the men who created them, plus the principle of Organized Individual Endeavor through which they were made practical. Both the sleeping car and the refrigerator car had to be promoted and sold, thus necessitating the investment of large amounts of capital. Both of these ideas, and all other similar ideas that are made practical, require the application of some combination of the principles of individual achievement; but in final analysis such ideas generally can be traced back to their originating source, in the imagination of one person.
HILL : Will you name the success principles which are most commonly used by those who apply the principle of imagination?
CARNEGIE : Well, that depends somewhat on the nature of the application that is to be made of imagination, and the person making it, but generally speaking the following are the principles which are more often allied with imagination:
a) Definiteness of purpose. The motive which more commonly serves to stimulate the imagination is that of a desire for financial gain. The profit motive has been, without a doubt, the greatest inspiration to the men who have developed industrial America.
b) The Master Mind principle, through which men go into a huddle and frankly exchange thoughts with the object of solving business or professional problems, is also a great stimulation of the imagination. It was this principle, more than all others, through which the steel industry of which I was the founder became prosperous. The so-called “round table” is a great institution. When men sit down and begin to pool their ideas, in a spirit of harmony and oneness of purpose, they soon find a solution to most of the problems that confront them, no matter what business they may be engaged in, or what may be the nature of their problems.
c) Going the Extra Mile comes in prominently for its share of credit as a stimulant to the imagination. When a man makes it a habit to do more than he is paid for, he generally begins to draw upon his imagination for new sources through which to render this sort of service. This fact alone would be sufficient compensation for Going the Extra Mile, even if there were not still greater benefits available.
d) Applied Faith is a definite source of stimulation of the imagination. Moreover, it is an essential in connection with the stimulation and application of creative imagination. Men with little or no faith will never receive the benefits of creative imagination.
e) Organized Individual Endeavor depends directly upon the application of imagination for its effectiveness, as all forms of definite planning are carried on through imagination.
When you pray do not ask for more blessings; but ask for more wisdom, that you may better understand and enjoy the blessings you already have.
There are many other sources of stimulation of the imagination, but these five are on the “must” list.
Fear sometimes stimulates the imagination, while of course at other times it paralyzes the imagination. When a man is in great danger his imagination often performs seemingly superhuman feats; especially where self-preservation is the motive.
Failure and temporary defeat sometimes have the effect of stirring one’s imagination, although more often they have the opposite effect.
The question method which master salesmen often resort to has the effect of arousing the imagination and putting it to work, and the reason for this is obvious. By asking questions the salesman forces his prospective buyer to think. Moreover, he chooses the line of thought to be engaged in, by the adroitness of his questions.
Curiosity often stimulates imagination to a high pitch. Curiosity, growing out of death and the uncertainty of life, and the unknown and perhaps unknowable facts of immortality, has been the chief source of inspiration out of which all the religions have grown.
Self-expression, through speaking and writing, is a never-ending source of stimulation of the imagination, as are many other forms of action. The very moment a man begins to organize his thoughts for the purpose of expression, whether through words or deeds, he starts his imagination to work. For this reason children should be encouraged to give free expression to their thoughts, as this develops imagination early in life.
Hunger is a universal source of inspiration of imagination. When a man needs food his imagination goes to work automatically, without any form of urge. In the lower order of life instinct goes to work in the face of hunger, and I have known of ingenious applications of instinct under such an urge.
Thus we see that wherever we touch life, whether in man or the lower orders of organized life, imagination and instinct may be found as essential parts of the individual’s working equipment.
Concentration of attention on a definite problem or object tends to put the imagination to work immediately. Witness, for example, the astounding achievements of Dr. Elmer R. Gates, who created hundreds of useful inventions by “sitting for ideas.” The same principle was used by Thomas A. Edison and Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. By fixing their minds on definite objectives, through definiteness of purpose, they put creative imagination to work with far-reaching results.
Scientists, and sometimes laymen, put their imaginations to work by setting up hypotheses of facts or ideas which, for the time being, they assume to exist. Scientific research and experiment would hardly be practical if hypothetical cases were not utilized, as often the facts for which they are searching are entirely unknown. Lawyers and trial judges often resort to the use of hypotheses in order to establish facts that cannot be uncovered through any other source. The chemist and the physicist resort to the same method when searching for unknown facts. And so does the doctor, when other means of diagnosis of disease fail him. Detectives often work entirely through the aid of hypotheses in the solution of crime.
Right after the War Between the States a foundry owner purchased a large quantity of unused cannonballs which he wished to melt for other uses. Before the balls could be melted conveniently, they had to be broken into small pieces. There seemed no way to do the job except by hiring men to break the balls with heavy hammers, until a man with imagination came along, looked the cannonballs over, discovered that they were hollow inside, and made a very low bid for breaking the entire lot. Moreover, he astonished the foundryman by guaranteeing to break the entire lot himself, and to do it by the following morning.
He was given the contract, after which he turned all the balls so the small opening in each appeared on the top side. Then, to the amazement of everyone, he calmly filled the balls with water. The night was very cold, and the following morning the foundryman found every ball nicely broken by the expansion of the frozen contents. His only comment was, “Why didn’t I think of that in the first place?”
We all have occasion, at times, to wonder why we hadn’t used our own imagination when we see others making profitable use of theirs.
HILL : Why is it that so few people appear to have a well-developed imagination? Is the capacity for a keen imagination a matter of heredity, Mr. Carnegie?
CARNEGIE : No, the faculty of imagination, like all other faculties of the mind, can be developed through use. The reason so many people seem not to have a keen imagination is obvious. Most people allow the faculty of imagination to atrophy, through neglect.
HILL : Inasmuch as everyone must use salesmanship, in one way or another, will you illustrate how imagination can be used in selling?
CARNEGIE : Yes, I can give you an endless number of examples of this sort. Take the case of a life insurance agent whom I know, for instance. He began selling insurance after an accident which incapacitated him for any sort of heavy manual labor, and within a year he became the high man in sales in the entire United States in his company.
I will give you one illustration that will tell the story of his success. But, before I do so I think I should tell you that this man became a master at applying the Master Mind principle. He also became equally proficient in applying many of the other principles of achievement, among them Organized Thought.
One day he walked into the office of a very distinguished and wealthy lawyer and came out, within half an hour, with an application for a million-dollar policy on the lawyer’s life, although the lawyer was known to have refused to purchase insurance from a half dozen or more of the ablest insurance men of the city in which he lived.
And this is the way he did it:
He carried with him a fully illustrated newspaper feature story of the lawyer’s activities, set in type with a heavy streamer headline which read “Prominent Lawyer Insures His Brains for a Million Dollars!”
The story told how the lawyer had come up from the bottom, through his unusual skill as a corporation attorney, until he was in a position where he commanded the most select clientele in New York City. The story was well written. It carried pictures of the lawyer and the members of his family, including a picture of his Long Island estate.
He handed the story to the lawyer and said, “I have made arrangements for this story to be released in over a hundred newspapers the moment you prove that you can pass the necessary physical examination. I hardly need to suggest to a man of your intelligence that the story will bring you enough new clients to more than pay the premium on the insurance policy.”
The lawyer sat down and read the story carefully. When he had finished, he asked how the insurance man had procured so much information about him, and how he managed to get those pictures of his family.
“Oh,” replied the insurance man, “that was easy. I simply made arrangements with a newspaper syndicate to do the job.”
The lawyer read the story a second time, made a few corrections in it, handed it back, and said, “Let’s have your application blank.” The sale was closed in a few minutes, but more than three months of preparation went into it before the insurance agent made his call. He left no detail unattended. He made it his business to find out all about the lawyer before the story was written, and saw to it that the story was so prepared that it got under the lawyer’s skin at his weakest point, which was his desire for publicity.
What he really sold the lawyer was not an insurance policy on his life, but an insurance policy on his vanity! That streamer headline turned the trick. Moreover, the salesman not only earned a fat premium on the sale, but he received $500 from the newspaper syndicate for the exclusive use of the story.
Now, that was imagination, or I miss my guess!
Salesmen with imagination often sell something entirely different from that which they appear to be selling. The experience of Dr. Harper, a former president of the University of Chicago, aptly illustrates what I mean.
Dr. Harper was one of the greatest “endowment getters” the educational world has ever known. He took a notion to build a new building on the campus that required a million-dollar endowment. If you wish to see imagination as it is employed by a master, observe the technique through which he got his million dollars. Observe, also, how many of the principles of individual achievement he applied in addition to imagination.
First of all, he chose his prospective donors with adroitness, confining the number to two well-known Chicago men, both of whom were quite able to donate a million dollars.
It could not have been purely accidental that these two men were known to be bitter enemies. One was a professional politician and the other was the head of the Chicago street railway system. For years these two men had been fighting each other, a fact which would have meant nothing to anyone with less imagination than Dr. Harper possessed.
One day, precisely at twelve o’clock, Dr. Harper strolled into the office of the streetcar magnate, found no one on duty at the outer door (which was exactly as he expected the situation to be), and walked into the streetcar man’s private office unannounced.
The magnate looked up from his desk, but before he had time to protest, the super-salesman said, “I beg your pardon for walking in unannounced, but I found no one in the outer office. My name is Dr. Harper, and I just called to see you for a minute.”
“Please be seated,” said the streetcar man.
“No, thank you,” replied the educator, “I have only a minute, so I will tell you what I have in mind and then be on my way. I have been thinking, for some time, that the University of Chicago should do something to recognize you for the wonderful job you have done in giving the city the finest street railway system in America, and I had in mind honoring you with a building on the campus to be named for you. When I mentioned the matter to our board, one of the members had the same idea; but he wanted us to honor (naming the streetcar man’s enemy) so I just came in to tell you what had happened, with the hope that you might find some way to help me defeat this board member’s plan.”
“Well!” exclaimed the streetcar man. “That is an interesting idea. Do please be seated and let us see what we can work out, will you?”
“I am very sorry,” the educator apologized, “but I have another engagement in a few minutes and I must hurry on to it; but I tell you what I suggest. You think the matter over during the night and telephone me in the morning if any plan comes to mind that might help me to get the right man’s name on that building. Good day, sir!”
Without leaving any opening for further conversation, the master of imagination bowed himself out.
The next morning when he arrived at his office at the university, he found the streetcar man awaiting him. The two men walked inside, remained there about an hour, after which they walked out again, both of them smiling. Dr. Harper carried a check in his hands, waving it back and forth in the air to blot it. The check was for one million dollars.
The streetcar man had found a way to beat his enemy to the draw, as the clever Dr. Harper figured he would do. Moreover, he had sealed the bargain by delivering the money with the understanding that Dr. Harper would become personally responsible for its acceptance.
Now, if it is salesmanship based on imagination that you want, here you have it. Those who knew the streetcar man best said that no other plan that could have been conceived would have succeeded. And that is another thing about these men who develop imagination through its use; they generally know the precise plan that will work. This is an essential part of their training.
HILL : Was Dr. Harper’s success solely the result of his understanding and use of imagination, or did other factors enter into it?
CARNEGIE : In his case I would say that he used Creative Vision, and not just imagination alone.
HILL : What is the difference between imagination and Creative Vision? The two terms appear to be synonymous.
CARNEGIE : No, they are not the same. Creative Vision is an acquired ability through which one does two very important things, viz.: First, he becomes keenly alert in recognizing opportunities favorable to the attainment of his aims and purposes; second, he develops the habit of embracing these opportunities and acting upon them through Organized Individual Endeavor.
