Almost everyone has probably taken a ride on a Ferris wheel and if you were like me still remembers the experience eons after the ride. The Ferris wheel is an American invention and behind its invention lays a fascinating story that will inspire everyone. A story that involves the application of several fundamental principles of success. In this article I will outline the key success principles that lead its inventor, a 33 year old man named George Ferris, to create the Ferris wheel.
Optimism & Ambition
It was said of George that even in the darkest times, he was ever looking for the sunshine to come. A quality that was to come in handy at the most important turning point in his life. George was also ambitious and competitive. Growing up in mid 19th century America the emerging industrial landscape proved to be a fertile ground for his talents.
By the time he was 24 he had worked on the construction of the Henderson Bridge, at that time the longest trestle span in the world. By age 26 he had founded his own company. By his early 30's he had major offices in several important cities, NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. That was when his company secured a contract for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, a fair. An occasion that was to become the turning point in his life.
Rising To The Challenge
Ferris's initial work for the exposition was less than acceptable to Daniel H Burnham, architect and head of the exposition committee. Happening just a few years after the Paris's exposition and its Eiffel tower Daniel was smarting for an American response to the French engineering marvel.
Burnham threw a challenge "Make no small plans; they have no magic to stir men's minds". George Ferris took it on.
Courage Of Conviction
George's response to the challenge was to build an enormous revolving wheel, higher than Chicago's tallest building. It would carry 2000 people at a time and weigh 1,200 tons. A contraption never before seen. A contraption that was enormous even by today's standards.
At first people ridiculed his idea and made fun of him. They called him a wild man. Soon George acquired the nickname "the man with wheels in his head."
But George stood by his conviction to build a wheel that the world had never seen before. The Ferris wheel was completed on time and under budget. As promised by him, it turned out to be the highlight of the exposition drawing people from far and near.
The Importance of Relationships
A significant reason for George's success was his ability to develop and sustain deep relationships with people. Said an acquaintance of him, "George was eminently engaging and social, a storyteller who often amused his friends with anecdotes."
George did not have the luxury of a long lead time to build the Ferris wheel. Yet he not only managed to acquire the key building material for the wheel, steel, by relying on his industry connections he managed to successfully sell his idea of a giant revolving wheel and get it built.
The Ferris wheel has proved to be an enduring success. It continues to thrill riders and inspires many to build bigger and more daring wheels, from the London Eye to the world's largest Ferris wheel, the Great Wheel of China in Beijing.
An inspiring and enduring personal story built on fundamental and permanent principles of life.
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