More Organizational and Product Origins

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We recently introduced another category, Where Did That Come From?, to our growing blog content. In that opening article, we shared some interesting data on the origin of organization and product names such as 7-11, Adidas, Caterpiller, Pepsi and Skype.

Today, we continue that journey by exploring the origins of the following companies: Apple, Cadillac, Coca-Cola, Haagen-Dazs, and Lego.

  • Cadillac is a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors Company. Cadillac vehicles are sold in more than 50 countries and territories but mainly in North America. Founded in 1902 as the Cadillac Automobile Company, it was purchased in 1909 by General Motors and over the next 30 years established itself as America’s premier luxury car. It was named after the 18th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan.
  • The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in more than 200 countries or territories and serves 1.5 billion servings each day. The beverage is derived from the coca leaves and kola nuts used as flavoring. Creator Pemberton changed the “K” of kola to “C” to make the name look better.
  • Despite the foreign-sounding name, Häagen-Dazs ice cream was established by Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Starting with just three flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and coffee), the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, New York, in 1976 and then offered franchises throughout the United States and 54 other countries around the world. Today, it offers well over 90 flavors. Häagen-Dazs produces ice cream, ice cream bars, ice cream cakes, sorbet and frozen yogurt. The name was invented in 1961 by ice-cream makers “to convey an aura of the old-world traditions and craftsmanship.” The name actually has no meaning.  The Häagen-Dazs brand is owned by General Mills. However, in the United States and Canada, Häagen-Dazs products are produced by Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc., a Nestlé subsidiary, under a pre-existing license.
  • Apple Computer was co-founded in 1976 in Culpertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniac and Ronald Wayne. A year later Wayne sold his share back to his two partners. Wonder how he feels about that today? The company currently operates more than 250 retail stores in nine countries and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. It boasts more than 35,000 employees worldwide. The company was named for the favorite fruit of co-founder Steve Jobs and/or for the time he worked at an apple orchard as well as to distance itself from the cold, unapproachable, complicated imagery created by other computer companies at the time–which had names such as IBM, DEC, Cincom and Tesseract.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The World Needs Empathy Today More Than Ever

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The older I get, the easier it is for me to be empathetic. It wasn’t always that way. For more years than I’d like to admit, I was stubborn and bull-headed. For the longest time, it was “my way or the highway!” I still have flashes of that attitude. It doesn’t hurt to stand your ground from time to time. However, today I also strive to be more empathetic when needed.

The dictionary offers a number of definitions for empathy but the following pretty well sums up the concept: “The ability to put one’s self into the psychological frame of reference or point of view of another, to feel what another feels.”

Now, in my view, that doesn’t mean that I have to agree with someone else’s point of view. It simply means that I try to understand how they feel about something. It goes a long way in helping me better communicate with that person.

I’m also a people watcher. I’ve found that it’s a tremendous way of learning people skills and discovering how we all differ in our thinking. I’m fortunate in having many opportunities to people watch. I spend a lot of time in airports in the midst of thousands of people from different locations. I do a lot of work in many large cities populated with people from locations far and wide.

At a recent leadership seminar, I was sitting at a table during a break having a Coke with 8 to 10 participants. Somehow the conversation turned to voting, and it didn’t take long for things to get heated. Half the group felt it was a privilege and responsibility to vote and that every citizen should do so at every opportunity … local, state and federal.

The other half of the group felt voting was a choice, and it came with more negatives than positives. I must admit that I’ve always leaned toward the philosophy of the first group. However, it was interesting to listen to, and empathize, with those sharing the alternative philosophy.

Here are a couple of reasons they shared:

  • “I don’t vote because registering places my name on the jury duty list, and I can’t afford to take time off work for jury duty at $12 a day! I have a family to feed.”
  • “I don’t vote because I don’t approve of or agree with either candidate. If you had a choice of voting for a proven thief or a proven liar … which would you choose if you didn’t want either leading your city, state or country? Would you vote for one of those two simply because you had the privilege of voting.”
  • “Why is it we have 50 choices for Miss America and only two, neither of which I approve of, for the highest office on earth—President of the U.S.?”
  • “Why should I take the time off work to vote when the last three elections have proven that my vote meant nothing. The election was decided by those in power—not the popular vote.”
  • “We can put a man on the moon and transplant a living heart, but we can’t properly count votes for something as critical as President of the U.S.!”

Listening to these comments and watching the sincerity with which they were shared, I suddenly had a greater respect for empathy. I didn’t have to agree with any one of those positions, but I could understand where they were coming from.

Last year more people voted for American Idol than they did for President of the United States! Maybe it’s time for those in power to be more empathetic and strive to address some of these issues that currently prevent so many from exercising this critical right to vote.

Instead, we see them on TV screaming at each other and calling each other liars. Maybe this would be a good time for some empathy.

By the way, as for those on break during the seminar … neither side budged an inch!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Man’s Best Friend Continues Legacy

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In high school, I was a reporter and photographer for our school newspaper and year book. I remember those days with such fondness because I so enjoyed what I was doing. In fact, I had every intention, at that time, of pursuing journalism as a career. Those were the days when a newspaper actually reported the news rather than manufacturing it. You never saw a newspaper that backed one political party over another. They served and defended the everyday citizen against large corporations and our own government.

Times have changed drastically and obviously not for the better. Today, newspapers have diminished in both size and stature. Many have merged, others have reduced their printing schedule from 7 days a week to just 2 or 3, almost all have reduced their page numbers, and many more have disappeared altogether.

The changes don’t stop there. Consider the quality of the news today. I understand the need to report what’s going on as we struggle through some of the greatest challenges this country has ever faced. However, I don’t understand why 9 out of 10 stories printed today must be negative. And don’t tell me that there is no good news to report. There are plenty of very positive things happening in this country today that deserve to be on the front page of every paper from coast to coast. I also don’t believe in the argument that people don’t want to read positive stories. Those making that claim work for newspapers.

I share these beliefs because I have again come across a heartwarming story that will put a smile on the faces of anyone yearning for good news. I recently heard, for the very first time, the phrase “Certified Therapy Dogs.” My first thought was something along the lines of a seeing eye dog, but I couldn’t have been farther off base.

In our country today there are more than 30,000 dogs that have become certified as therapy dogs. These wonderful animals help people recover from strokes, accidents, or domestic violence. Research shows that the comfort they provide patients helps heal them and improve their quality of life.

Click on this link to see a short video about a loving dog named Baxter, and you’ll see how these animals change lives in miraculous ways. They bring tremendous comfort and joy to autistic children, nursing facilities, hospitals, schools, special needs classrooms, and other facilities by invitation or prior approval.

 

I read about one of these wonderful animals in Parade Magazine. They told the story of a black lab named “Boo” who lives in New York with his owner. Apparently, a previously unresponsive 94-year-old woman at a care facility spoke her first words after visiting several times with the lab. Suddenly one day as “Boo” arrived for his regular visit, she calmly said, “Hello Boo.”

Isn’t it interesting that even “man’s best friend” can demonstrate leadership when the need arises?

Research shows that the comfort these animals provide patients helps heal them and improve their quality of life. This is the kind of story we need to see more of. It’s quite obvious that today’s media has no intention to return to the “good news” stories we need so badly in these trying times. The task now falls to us to carry the torch … to share this story and so many others like it with as many people as we possibly can in hopes of restoring the faith so many have lost. We can make a difference. I brought this particular story this far. Now it’s up to you to see that others have access to some much-needed “good news.” Let’s let Baxter and Boo know they have our support and appreciation by passing this video on to others. Thanks!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

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I recently wrote a short article requesting feedback and input from our readers and subscribers. Well, I got it! Boy, did I get it! While the vast majority of your comments were very positive and supportive, we did receive a few brutal assaults.

After reading both of those messages, I feel compelled to share our blog philosophy in hopes of clarifying a few issues. Personally, I’m an optimist. I’d go after Moby Dick with a row boat and a jar of tartar sauce! I tend to focus on the positive!

We try to share information about individual leaders and successful organizations in an effort to assist our readers in their quest for continuous growth and success. We have a category titled “Little-known Facts about Well-known Leaders” about well-known leaders and businesses.  In short, both subject areas are simply bios which provide a road map to success.

When I first thought about sharing this kind of data, I decided to write ONLY about persons or businesses that:

  • were perfect in every way
  • had never made a mistake
  • had never made a poor decision
  • had never displayed poor judgment
  • had never failed in any way

I’m sure you get the drift here. It took me very little time and effort to discover that following those guidelines would leave me with absolutely no one to write about. Consider the 44 Presidents who have led the greatest country on Earth. If you were to exclude those who had flaws, made mistakes, were disliked, who stumbled, etc., who would you write about?

The same can be said for every organization in the Fortune 500. None has been or will ever be perfect. However, there is much to learn from every one of them. Discovering those keys and sharing them with our clients, readers, and subscribers is what we strive to do.

We had a choice, and we made it. I decided in these two categories, to share the thinking and actions that proved to be successful for these people and businesses in the hopes that we can learn how to enhance our efforts to succeed.

However, we’ve also examined the shortcomings in many organizations and the poor decisions of individuals across industries in our categories titled “What Were They Thinking,” “Going, Going, Gone,” “Business Briefs,” and the “University of Real Life.” We believe that as much can be learned from examining failures as from examining successes.

Along those same lines, we offer more than 200 book reviews on our web site. I consider myself a reviewer rather than a critic. I say that because I choose not to waste my time and yours writing a review about a book I suggest you don’t read. To me, that simply doesn’t make sense for either of us. If a book appears in our list of 200+ reviews, it has something to offer to our readers.

We’ve decided not to print any message in the future that isn’t signed by the sender. We continue to solicit and appreciate your feedback and input. Many of you have much to offer, and we’d love to hear it as often as possible. Thank you for your continued support.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Patient Lion Roars with Pride

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Wait! Don’t tune out. This article isn’t about dangerous animals, the City of Detroit, or a football team. As always, the focus is on leadership and the by-product is CLASS.

I’ve been a proud Detroit Lions football fan since I could waddle across my yard with a football under my arm. That was way back in the days that Bobby Layne led the team as quarterback as one of the last players to wear a helmet without a face guard. Today, the Lions are led by a 21-year-old young man, Matthew Stafford, with a $78 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in the team’s history.

Consider this:

  • The Lions have won just four NFL Championships in 79 years of play.
  • They have the second-longest NFL championship drought behind the Arizona Cardinals.
  • The Lions have yet to qualify for the Super Bowl.
  • The team has qualified for the playoffs only nine times in the more than 50 years and has won only one playoff game in that span.
  • The Lions hold the second longest regular season losing streak in NFL history, losing 19 straight games going all the way back to 2007.
  • The 2008 Detroit Lions became the only team in NFL history to lose all 16 regular-season games.
  • They have a rookie quarterback in Stafford and a new coach in Jim Swartz.
  • They proudly boast one of the most beautiful stadiums in the nation in Ford Field. I’ve had the privilege to speak there and a tour of this facility will leave you breathless.
  • Record-wise, the Lions have been losers for decades.

I, like so many others, have been a Lions fan through all of this tragedy.

So why my reference to CLASS? You’d better sit down. The Lions have broken that remarkable losing streak the last weekend in September by defeating the Washington Redskins 19-14.

Needless to say, the players and the fans reacted as though they had just won the Super Bowl! You couldn’t hear anything for what seemed forever. They danced, they hugged, they laughed, they screamed and sang as they relished the joy of victory!

Now the CLASS appears. The team finally made their way into the locker room. They quickly quieted down, and as a team they dropped to one knee and shared a prayer of thanks. They then decided as a team to return to the field to celebrate this unbelievable milestone. They talked, shook hands, and hugged thousands of fans who had gathered on the field. Later, they said they simply wanted to thank the most patient fans in the game of football for their loyalty and support since 2007. Will they win their next game? Will they have a winning season? Who knows? In fact, who cares? On this day, they conquered the world and nothing was more important to the Lions or their fans.

Frosting on this scrumptious cake? You bet! As thousands of proud fans finally filed out of that beautiful, state-of-the-art football stadium, you could hear a low, thunderous, but growing, two-word chant … SUPER BOWL! SUPER BOWL! SUPER BOWL! Those are true fans supporting a CLASSY football team! Losers on the field for now but winners in our hearts forever!

By the way, the Lions one-game winning streak ended the following Sunday in Chicago by a score of 48-24 … but we’ll be back!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Creativity Can Be Obvious

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I’m often told how lucky I am to be able to travel as much as I do … airports, hotels, town cars, convention centers. It does sound exciting … to those who don’t have to do it every week. Trust me when I tell you how quickly the routine can grow old and tiresome!

One of the monotonous rituals a traveler must deal with involves the simple shuttle bus which takes you from your parked car to the terminal. That’s the easy part of the necessary ritual. The challenge emerges when you return from your trip … often tired, suffering jet-lag and simply wanting to return to the comfort of your home after a long and demanding trip.

In most of your larger airports, you have a choice of several places to park … each with their own fleet of shuttle buses. You’re immediately given a parking slip to tell the returning driver where your car is parked. Your job of course is keep that slip in a safe place until you return as losing it will mean cruising every aisle of the massive parking lot in search of your car. Another annoying challenge arises when you have to remember what your shuttle bus looks likes as so many of them seem to look alike. Hop the wrong bus and you add embarrassment to inconvenience!

Well, one company has obviously mastered the task of TLC (“Thinking Like the Customer”). The company calls itself The Parking Spot … an obvious reminder of where you left your car. It got even more creative customizing its shuttle bus as an obvious visual reminder for its patrons.

Each shuttle by is a rolling Parking Spot. How could you possibly NOT recognize that bus! And yet what’s more simplistic than a cluster of giant spots splattered against a bright yellow background!

The Parking Spot is the leading near-airport parking company in the United States, getting its start at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental airport. Since then, The Parking Spot has grown to 19 locations at 12 airports serving 10 metropolitan areas. It enjoys a solid, loyal customer base and much of it can be attributed to its creative approach to a mundane service!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Correction and Request!

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We recently introduced another category to our growing blog content. In that opening article, we shared some interesting data on the origin of organization and product names such as 7-11, Adidas, Caterpillar, Pepsi and Skype.

In listing some of Pepsi’s products, we included Fanta and Sprite in that list. I’m certain Coca Cola didn’t appreciate that error as it takes great pride in boasting both brands as coveted members of its family.

We wouldn’t have realized our mistake if it hadn’t been quickly pointed out by several of our subscribers and regular readers. I’d like to point out that we made that misprint purposely to see if anyone would catch it. I’d like to point that out, but it wouldn’t be true. I simply failed to double-check my source. Congratulations to Dee Brown who was the first person to provide this feedback for us. Although she’s one of our favorite subscribers, she did have an edge over everyone else as she is an Executive Assistant and therefore thoroughly trained for spotting such errors! We’d like to express our deep appreciation for your contribution, Dee, by sending you a check for $10,000. We’d like to. However, I’m afraid you’re going to have to settle for our sincere thanks.

On a serious note, I wanted to share this situation with all of our readers to encourage you to continue to provide your feedback to us. We love hearing from you whether you’re spell-checking, fact-checking, contradicting our commentary, agreeing with our views, or simply sharing your own take on a particular issue. Receiving your feedback, in any form, makes our efforts more than worthwhile. We appreciate the many notes we’ve thus far received from so many of you and encourage others to do the same.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to our daily offering, you can do so by simply providing your e-mail address at the top left-hand side of this page. We’d love to have you join our growing family! Thanks again and we hope to hear from you very soon!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Nation’s Future Is in Good Hands

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The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon has been on the air for 44 years. I vividly remember watching it with my parents decades ago as it was somewhat of a family tradition. Years later, I remember continuing this emotional tradition with my own children. One year I even had the privilege of hosting several television remote segments of the telethon from a 24-hour marathon at our local Marriott hotel.

This year I had occasion to watch a great deal of the telethon as I worked on a project in my home office. As always, there was an abundance of talent offering a variety of entertainment in an effort to raise funds for “Jerry’s Kids.”

Due to my focus on the computer, most of the telethon was little more than background noise which served to keep me awake as the hours began to mount. Suddenly, a sound emerged from my TV which simply couldn’t be ignored. I quickly glanced at the screen to see four young girls singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” I was instantly mesmerized by their performance. Obviously, the live audience in Las Vegas felt the same way as they gave this group a standing ovation for several minutes.

The name of the group was The Cactus Cuties, and they certainly were! The four young ladies hail from Lubbock, Texas, where they got their start at the Cactus Theater. A large number of young talented kids have been performing there since 1994. The original Cactus Cuties came together in 2001 and consisted of seven talented youngsters between the ages of four and seven. None of the four existing “Cuties” on this year’s telethon was in that original group.

Today, even at this young age, these “Cuties” generate a beautiful harmony and charismatic presence that have led them to evolve into seasoned veterans. Many of their songs can be seen on YouTube and their arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” garnered five million hits in only three months, touching hearts all over the world. In addition to the telethon, they have been featured on The 700 Club, numerous NBA, MLB, and NFL games, and many high-profile military events. In December of 2008, they received an invitation from The White House to appear before President and Mrs. Bush.

At one time, there were as many as 19 Cactus Cuties, but through the years for various reasons, the group has evolved and been molded into the existing four members, Baylee Barrett (age 14), Andi Kitten (age 12), Blaire Elbert (age 12), and Madeline Powell (age 9). These four girls have been members of the Cactus Cuties for just shy of six years.

In a society which forbids our children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school, these youngsters are instilling a pride and feeling of patriotism in the hearts of millions of Americans … something which has been so obviously lacking in our current chaotic environment.

I watch their performance and feel secure that our future is in good hands. At the same time, I feel enormous guilt at the burden placed on their generation by the greed and stupidity of ours. Watch this short video of an earlier performance when there were five members, and if you don’t experience a lump in your throat, a tear in your eye, or a flutter in your heart—seek help immediately!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Looking for That Decisive Edge? It’s Simple and Accessible! Set Goals!

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I’ve been presenting keynotes and seminars on the subject of goal setting for as long as I can remember. It’s not the most popular subject to the masses. It falls into a unique category along with time management, preventative maintenance, and diet and exercise. Everybody knows it’s necessary—nobody wants to hear it! It’s probably because they realize it means planning, discipline and execution! However, seldom are the benefits considered.

Economic stress, a competitive marketplace and a chaotic environment have apparently caused many to understand the necessity and benefits of both individual and organizational goal setting. Of the 50 plus seminars we offer our clients, inquirers and requests for “On Your Mark, Get Set, Goal!” have recently escalated this program into our current top five! There’s obviously good reasons for such an increase.

The importance of setting clear goals is difficult to exaggerate. Goals are commonly emphasized as one of the key factors for achieving success for both individuals and companies. In fact, numerous studies have for years declared that the lack of clearly defined goals is widely considered to be one of the greatest stumbling blocks in achieving success. Glance at any best-selling book on the subject of personal and professional development and you’ll find countless references to the need for this critical skill.

There are several reasons why the average person dreads the thought of goal setting:

  • Assumed lack of time
  • Lack of understanding as to the importance of goals
  • Obvious lack of knowledge as to the “How-To’s”
  • Not recognizing the many benefits
  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of rejection

As a result, extensive national studies all agree: Less than 5% of the population set goals! The vast majority of people have no goals at all! Less than 1% of those who have goals, write them down!

Stop and think of the advantage you have over your competition if you not only set goals, but write them down! Apparently many are beginning to realize just that based on increased activity we’re seeing from our clients. Want and/or need that advantage. Do something about it! Take action now!

Remember what Michelangelo said: “The greatest danger for most of us is NOT that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it!”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Another New Blog Category Emerges!

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How many times have you wandered through your local shopping mall, noticed some of the crazy store names, and wondered where they came from, if they had any real meaning or if there was an interesting story behind their origins?

I’m certain the same thing has happened when it comes to products, city and state location, landmarks and a number of other things we so often take for granted.

Well, we’re going to start researching all of the areas and see if we can find some interesting facts to share with you from time to time.

Let’s start with some easily recognizable names which we’re all familiar with!

  • 7-Eleven is an 83-year-old international convenience store chain with 32,000 stores in 18 countries. Originally known as Southland Ice Company, it was renamed U-Tote’m and finally 7-Eleven to reflect its newly extended hours, 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. Today, of course, it’s open 24/7. Think 7-Eleven will change its name again?
  • Adidas is an 85-year-old German-based sports apparel manufacturer including Reebok sportswear, TaylorMade-adidas Golf company, and Rockport shoes. The Adidas name evolved from the founder’s name: Adolf (Adi) Dassler.
  • Caterpillar is an 84-year-old U.S.-based corporation known as “the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines” commonly referred to simply as CAT. Originally, Holt Tractor Co. merged with Best Tractor Co. in 1925. A company photographer exclaimed aloud that the tracks’ movement of its product resembled a caterpillar moving along the ground. The name stuck.
  • Pepsi is the 119-year-old soft drink which includes many Pepsi varieties, Dr. Pepper, Lay’s products and Gatorade. Originally known as “Brad’s Drink,” the company changed its name to Pepsi after the digestive enzyme “pepsin.”
  • Skype is a 6-year-old software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. The original concept for the name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper, then Skype.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.