One of the movies playing on my flight back from Washington, DC was "Flash of Genius". It was a very good movie that told the story about Dr. Robert Kearns. Dr. Kearns invented the Intermittent Windshield Wiper that is now on over 145 million vehicles worldwide. Ford Motor Company, like all the other automakers in the world had been trying to develop the intermittent wiper for years. In a flash of genius Dr. Kearns, an Electrical Engineering Professor, figured out how to make it work.
In good faith, he provided to Ford a prototype. Ford requested a prototype because they said they needed it to prove out the longevity and the safety of the device. A couple months after giving them the prototype Ford got back to Dr. Kearns with the news that they were no longer interested.
Several months later, a redesigned Ford Mustang was unvieled with...Intermittent Wipers. What ensued was a long drawn legal ordeal that ended up causing Dr. Kearns to have a nervous breakdown, he and his wife to separate, and for him to come very close to totally alienating his children. All for the sake of wanting Ford to capitulate and admit that they stole his idea.
The movie was good. And indeed, Dr. Kearns was vindicated. Ford paid him 10 million dollars, Chrysler paid 18 million. His kids, as they grew older, helped him out with the case. I am happy that justice was served.
What saddens me is that his marriage was ended by Dr. Kearn's singular desire to prove that he was right. Justice is important, but at what cost? At the price of his marriage? At the risk of his relationships with his children.
What kind of message does this send to people? That it is ok to pursue justice even at the expense of ruining the relationships that are so important? The relationships that are the basis for our society?
I have no bone to pick with Dr. Kearns and his family. I'm inspired by the werewithall he had to stand up to one of the largest companies on earth. But, my heart aches for the hurt it caused for those that loved him more than anything else.
I immediately thought about how this applies to me and the important relationships in my life. On more than one occasion I've ended up hurting people I love for the sake of proving I was right, or proving a point, or insisting on justice.
Our relationships with our spouses and children are the most important things in our lives after our love of the Father. Nothing that we do should hurt them or do irrepairable harm to those relationships.
I hope and pray that I can do a better job of keeping this in mind.
Blessings
Tim
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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My Dad, Robert Kearns, worked on the film for about 5 years before his death. Greg never got a opportunity to meet him, but did a magnificent job of becoming him.
ReplyDeletePerhaps more would have seen this movie in the US had it not come out just as the Automotive Industry started whining about about their inability to manage their businesses without Billions of OUR dollars?
I noticed Universal had put it on their Oscar Contenders website. Then removed it a few days later. I'm not sure which Automotive Exec accomplished this?
I'm proud to have been a consultant on the movie and to have participated in the reality.
Bob Kearns won 5 jury trials against some of the biggest corporations in the world. It was what he had learned in school, it was what he as an engineering professor taught. Patents were granted to protect the inventors rights.
Perhaps his idealism was from his Jesuit training at the University of Detroit.
His U.S. Marine Corps training taught him when a bully picks a fight you don't back down. No matter the odds.
As for the other players:
The law firm HDP.com that started the suits on our behalf represented Chrysler against us.
Henry Ford II's friend Max Fisher, Federal Judge Avern Cohn and his former silk-stocking law partners were estimated to have made a 2000% profit on the sale of property for Chrysler's World Headquarters (Detroit: Race and Uneven Development 1990)
My Mom towards his end came and spent the last month making him more comfortable.
Dennis Kearns
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http://Dennis-Kearns.com
The arrow that hits the bull’s eye is the result of 100 misses.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteI am honored to have you post a comment to this blog. I hope that you did not perceive my blog post as critical of your family. I have great respect for the stand your father took and how your brothers and sisters rallied around him.
Your family made some very difficult choices. As an engineer and scientist, I would side with your father. As a fairly new father and a husband, I don't think I would be able to make the choice your father did. So there is an incredible conflict within. i.e. if I were to back down, what would that affect my family, friends, colleagues who look to me for their direction? What am I telling my family and children if I back down from doing what is right?
I am so glad that your mother and father were able to spend his last month together. I truly hope they were able to reconcile. The movie, at least, seemed to indicate that they still loved each other, but there were things that need to be reconciled. I hope that they did reconcile.
Thank you once again for posting.
Take care and God bless
Tim