Chapter 4 - Land’s Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It
This Chapter is based on the biography of Edwin Land called “Land’s Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It” by Peter C. Wensberg.
Buy it on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Polaroid-Company-Man-Invented/dp/0395421144
Here’s what I have learned from the book:
An Education Without a Degree
“Don’t let schooling interfere with your education”
— Mark Twain
At an early age, Land realised the importance of learning through books rather than through the normal education system, something he called “an education without a degree”. As a matter of fact, Land first took a leave of absence from Harvard University to move to New York. He studied polarization by reading all books available at the New York Public Library. This is eerily similar to James Dyson (see Chapter 3 - Against the Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson) who learned all about hydrodynamics for boats or cyclonic systems for vacuum cleaners through reading:
“Anyone can become an expert in anything in six months, whether it is hydrodynamics for boats or cyclonic systems for vacuum cleaners. After the idea, there is plenty of time to learn the technology.”
— James Dyson
The second time Land left Harvard, this time for good, it was to create his own laboratory with George Wheelwright. Land realised that opening his own laboratory to make his own experiments would be more educational than continuing with his degree. This desire to learn through reading continued for the rest of his life. This led to Land insisting on having his own company’s library at Polaroid with two full-time librarians.
Likewise to Edwin Land, Henry Ford, in his memoir My Life and Work, also realized that the value of a man’s education should not be correlated to the amount of college degrees he may have acquired. Instead, he believed that knowledge is obtained through thinking and not solely through the mere accumulation of information for the sake of it:
“An educated man is not one whose memory is trained to carry a few dates in history—he is one who can accomplish things. A man who cannot think is not an educated man however many college degrees he may have acquired. Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do—which is probably the reason why we have so few thinkers.”
— Henry Ford
“But the best that education can do for a man is to put him in possession of his powers, give him control of the tools with which destiny has endowed him, and teach him how to think. The college renders its best service as an intellectual gymnasium, in which mental muscle is developed and the student strengthened to do what he can. To say, however, that mental gymnastics can be had only in college is not true, as every educator knows. A man’s real education begins after he has left school. True education is gained through the discipline of life.”
— Henry Ford
“The point is this: great piles of knowledge in the head are not the same as mental activity. A man may be very learned and very useless. And then again, a man may be unlearned and very useful. The object of education is not to fill a man’s mind with facts; it is to teach him how to use his mind in thinking.”
— Henry Ford
With over 535 patents under his name, it is fair to say that Edwin Land, the inventor of the instant camera system, is one of the greatest innovator in history despite having no formal degree. In fact, Steve Jobs frequently mentioned Edwin Land as one of his biggest role model innovator. Land has built Polaroid as a company founded on science that would design new products beyond the imagination of the public, which would be attracted to the products because they filled a need that was not previous recognised or understood. A philosophy that Steve Jobs would implement when building Apple.
“Industry is best at the intersection of science and art”
— Edwin Land
“Don’t do anything someone else can do. Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” — Edwin Land
“Poor, Rich, Deep Desired to be Rich”
“We certainly are not going to limit ourselves to hiring people with advanced degrees. We want people with PSD degrees - poor, smart and a deep desire to become rich”
— Alan Greenberg
This motto of “an education without a degree” also influenced the way Land hired his employees; he often did not require them to have any technical experience. Since his company’s office was located nearby, he frequently hired fresh graduates or students from Harvard or MIT. Furthermore, Land preferred to hire bright young liberal students over applicants with technical experience. As a matter of fact, he believed that they could learn the routines of the laboratory and the structure of scientific discipline as rapidly and, more importantly, they had little to unlearn.
While Land did not expect his new hires to have technical knowledge, he expected his employees to continue their education as an integral part of their working career. He fully believed that individuals in the industry would be better qualified to increase their technical competence and at the same time make their job fully satisfying through continuous learning.
“We look for three things when we hire people. We look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity. And if they don’t have the latter, the first two will kill you, because if you’re going to get someone without integrity, you want them lazy and dumb.”
— Warren Buffett
Similarly, Warren Buffett has often mentioned the traits that he usually looks for when hiring employees, and none of these traits have to do with the individual’s education or experience. As a matter of fact, he considers integrity as the most important trait as it is primordial to have someone that will take responsibility when things go wrong. When someone makes a mistake or there’s a bad news, Buffett would prefer to be aware of it as soon as possible because this helps to prevent mistakes from escalating into disasters.
“I like people admitting they were complete stupid horses’ asses. I know I’ll perform better if I rub my nose in my mistakes. This is a wonderful trick to learn.”
— Charlie Munger
Beyond the Book
Read “Henry Ford and the Actual Value of Education” by Farnam Street
Read “Warren Buffett: The Three Things I Look For in a Person” by Farnam Street
Listen “#263 Land’s Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It” by Founders Podcast