+STORY: Great Accomplishments require great Virtue through Great Struggle

Philip was barely 17 when the CEO called him in. Philip was led past all the cubicles with his greasy hands, safety goggles on his head, metal toed boots that seemed heavier than the whole rest of his legs, and an oversized industrial onesey.

The door shut behind Philip and the CEO stood from his desk, his eyebrows and scowl seething with anger. He walked straight up to Philip. This man was 40 years his senior, and a whole foot taller.

"Do you know how much you have cost me?"

Philip shook his head as he trembled. Though he did not break from the man's overbearing gaze.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars! The product line will be down for at least three days. Please tell me you didn't literally throw a wrench in the gears like they are telling me."

Philip struggled with how to respond.

"So you DID. Throw. A. Wrench. In. My Gears!!??"

"I wasn't aiming for the gears."

"But you threw a wrench. You know that's incredibly unsafe. Were you trying to kill a co-worker?!"

"I was trying to save her."

The CEO waited.

"I thought her hair had gotten caught and she was screaming. I was aiming for the kill button... of the machine. Not the woman. Sorry."

"Was her hair caught?"

Philip looked down and let out his breath, defeated. But then he summoned more bravery and met the man's eyes. "She had seen a cockroach or some bug and lifted her leg and held her head in such a way that I thought the machine was pulling her in." Philip tried to enact it and let out a whisper version of a horrified scream.

The CEO fought back a smile.

"I was probably 20 feet away."

"That sounds like an ice cube's chance in hell that you would hit it."

Philip sucked in through his teeth and looked at the ground as he shook his head. "May I speak candidly, Sir." He looked resolutely back up at him, just accepting that he would lose his job for what he was about to say. The CEO slowly nodded.

"I want to do great things in this short life. For people, for this world. I just don't see how I'm getting any closer to that monitoring thread tightness in an industrial sewing machine product line."

The CEO stepped back and crossed his arms. "How far away would you have risked all this for?"

"I probably would have tried from the break room if there was a chance. My life will have been wasted if I'm just down there taking your money every day and spending it on food to eat in a box in a tower with a TV, Sir."

The CEO leaned back on his desk.

"You can fire me now. I had aimed to leave a significant impact at every job I had, but I'm off to a grand start."

"I bet I can go see exactly the impact you left. Did you even come close? Those gears you clogged are at least ten feet from Sophia's kill button."

"When you tell your stories about me, just know the wrench bounced, okay? I wasn't far off."

"Even though Sofia wasn't even in danger, Philip. You were probably more likely to kill her than save her."

"If I'd have hurt her, I'd say sorry. But Sir, I'm not sorry I tried to do the right thing. I knew the risk. I'm sorry I've cost you so much." Philip felt he was just being mocked now. He turned to leave.

"You're gonna have to get a sense of humor, son." Philip looked back up at him. The CEO continued, "You won't be any fun to work with."

"I get along fine. Sofia thanked me for trying, if you didn't hear that."

"I mean working with me."

Philip looked up still resolute in his decision, and drilled into the CEO's eyes.

"How do you feel about working on an innovation team? Those type of people are the ones that have a potential for greater impact."

Philip discerned the CEO's look for a long 30 seconds. Then he said dryly. "I would need something a lot bigger than a wrench to throw at people."

The CEO nodded. "If you can make as much of an impact on a company as you did with that little wrench, you're going to be dangerous. Come to my office tomorrow at 8. We'll get ya a few bigger things you can throw."

Philip nodded slowly as it started to sink in. He turned to leave.

"Hey Philip,"

Philip turned back for a moment.

Mr. Lidel continued, "Thank you for telling me why you threw it. Just know, every time you throw, there's damage. You can't let that stop you. You get closer each time to that kill button. My dad lived like you and he told me something I've never been brave enough to live by. He said

To do great things, you must attempt harder things than others dare do, and greater virtues than others must emerge from you through it."

***

Over the next decade Philip worked closely with Mr. Lidel developing new fabrics. Philip always aimed to save lives with it, like new types of Kevlar to stop bullets. Mr. Lidel said as long as he could make a business case for it he would let him. They made great mistakes, leading to the brink of bankruptcy several times, but this led them to achieve some great products.

They were criticized for releasing powerful products that got into the wrong hands. They were sued by competitors for patent infringement because they moved so fast. But because they had tried so many things, they adjusted and just used one of their other technologies instead of the already-patented one.

Philip, now age thirty, walked into Mr. Lidel's office. He was massaging his brow and he clasped the industry journal in his other hand. He said, "Did you see what we're up against this time?"

Mr. Lidel looked up at Philip, put his hand on the same journal on his desk, and nodded. He said, "What virtue should we make sure emerges from us to make the wrench stick on this one?"

"I don't know. I think this one could sink us. That lady is paralyzed because she slipped on it."

"If you had all the money you needed, what would you do with it?"

"I'd make a new shoe sole that never slips."

"There's your virtue. Your virtue is that you can't stop trying to help others. I'm just the money guy. Go and do it."

Other times the virtue that came out was mainly tenacity. Or focused genius. Or awe-inspiring vision.

By Philip's third decade with Mr. Lidel's company they had developed non-slip soles, smart fabrics which would become stiff if something impacted them quickly and many other innovations. Many more people were saved than were hurt by their products.

***

Do you desire to do great things with this short life? What has God put in your heart as a goal? What is at risk in trying to achieve it? And what is at risk for not trying to achieve it. There will be struggle if you're attempting hard things. But what virtues will you foster to come out of you in the struggle that would not come out of others. This is what will differentiate you.

Do you hope to be a great connector of people? Be brave and introduce yourself to strangers. Do you hope to know God better every day? You will have to sacrifice some time on Netflix. Do you want to make something great? Go and pursue it, struggle through the failures, and foster virtues as you navigate them, and that is what will help you do remarkable things!

Do great things. This life is only barely worth it if we do not.

Raw Spoon, May 11, 2025