Soon, non-operating people like computer programmers would be trained as conductors. Managers would learn how to drive trains. This would not only give the company flexibility, but office workers would learn what it was like on the front lines of actually operating a railroad.

Managers, he frequently repeated, do things right—while leaders do the right thing. “My mandate in these jobs has never been to be Mr. Popularity.”

When it came down to it, he simply hated inefficiency. If something was wasteful or inefficient, it created a ruckus in his head, and he didn’t stop until the noise was fixed.

Thompson got on the phone to Springfield and got the data. He then laid it out for Harrison, who was under the impression that if the yard was full, business was good. Thompson, meanwhile, saw a yard full of cars and immediately concluded there were delays. It was an object lesson for Harrison. “If you want to be successful in the yard or the railr

Still, Harrison believed in a key message: The transportation infrastructure of North America is vital to the well-being of the continent. Without freight railroads, the economy would be crippled, so why not make them the best? He was all about being the best. Why couldn’t everybody else be?

Freight trains ran on volume. Customarily, when the car was full, it would depart. Neither the railroad nor the customer knew when that would be. He said, we’re going to flip this very basic premise and run on schedule. By doing so, the railroad would utilize its assets at maximum efficiency and get rid of ones that it didn’t need, saving huge amou

Marquis learned a classic Harrison lesson—don’t spend a dollar of capital when all it takes is improving processes.

Harrison, though, knew human nature and was toughest to work for when the railroad ran well. The boss worried that his people would get complacent. “When things were bad, it’s when he was most supportive,” Creel said.

Did he model himself on Thompson? No, Harrison said. But he did model his approach on Thompson’s principles.