Context Guide for "How to Succeed..." by Maegan Clearwood

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Table of Contents Introduction The Creators Creation History of Business

2 3 4 5

The 1950s and ‘60s

Success Manuals

American Dream

Horatio Alger Map

Business Etiquette: Men

Business Etiquette: Women

reetings new employee, and welcome to your new home: the glamorous offices of World Wide Wickets! Before you embark on this adventure of bureaucracy and intrigue, take a moment to familiarize yourself with our company policies and expectations. This book is your guide to the exhilarating, sexy, oftentimes bewildering, world of Big Business, so read carefully. We have everything you need to reach the top rung of the corporate ladder: flip to the next page, and you can read the inspirational story of how two men, against all odds, crafted one of the greatest adaptations in musical theatre history; on page 8, learn about how the American Dream became the beacon of middle-class prosperity that it is today; keep reading, and you will find the awe-inspiring account of how Olney Theatre Center re-imagined our company’s legendary tale for the stage. With these examples of success stories, as well as the information on proper office etiquette which begins on page 12, you too can someday have your name painted on your own office door. Along with these anecdotes and pieces of wisdom, follow the illustrated examples from Shepherd Mead’s original book; Claude Smith’s drawings and Mead’s illuminating tips are not only entertaining, but instructive as well. If your ambitions are even greater than those covered within these pages, look no further than our newest modern convenience: www.olneyhowtosucceed.wordpress.com. This web-log has pages of additional insight, including videos, images, articles, quotes, and much more. Looking to send a comment or question along to our senior executives about what you’ve read? Send us a memo at education@olneytheatre.org. With that, we wish you the best of luck on your journey!

Production Photos, Interviews 16

On getting the interview: Remember, it’s easy to drop a letter in the 2 wastebasket, but it’s hard to overlook a piece of artillery or a Shetland pony.

The Creators R S hepherd Mead (1914-94) left his native St. Louis for New York City at 22 years old and joined the mailroom of a large corporation, the ad agency Benton and Bowles. In a few short years, he became head of radio copy at the company and, eventually, Vice President. According the “About the Author” page of his first book, his “outrageous success was a result not of following the precepts of this book, but of his unique ability to do without sleep. While others slept, Mead worked, or appeared to, which is much the same thing.” While in his executive office, he wrote his first satirical success, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which remained on the bestseller list for 12 weeks. This was followed by several novels on big business, one of which, The Admen, sold more than two million copies. He wrote a variety of other satirical “how to” books, including How to Stay Medium-Young Practically Forever Without Really Trying, and How to Succeed with Women Without Really Trying: The Dastard’s Guide to the Birds and the Bees. In 1958, Mead moved his family to England where he lived until his death at the age of 80. How to Succeed was written in the guise of a self-help guide, and many of its tips and tricks were influenced by Mead’s own business career. The short book—just over 150 pages—provides step-by-step instructions on how to climb from the mailroom all the way to a corner office. Notable chapter titles include: “How to Keep Money;” “How to Play Company Politics;” and “SEX in Businesses, its Uses and Abuses.” Although the book has no plot, it uses the character of J. Pierrepont Finch as a shining example of how the rulebook may be used successfully.

adio personality, songwriter, singer and pianist, television personality, playwright, and stage director Abe Burrows (1910–85) broke into the entertainment business after several years as an accountant and Wall Street runner. His comedic skills established him as a popular songwriter and radio personality before he partnered with Frank Loesser on Guys and Dolls in 1950. The musical was an enormous popular and critical success, and he went on to direct, doctor, and write a variety of plays over the course of his Broadway career.

nable to study music professionally and forced to drop out of college during the Great Depression, Frank Loesser (191069) supported himself with an array of jobs, from working as a process server to city editor of a short-lived newspaper in New Rochelle. Intrigued by word play, Loesser began to write songs, sketches, and radio scripts. He produced his major wartime hit, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, in 1942 and founded Frank Music Corp., his own publishing company, in 1950. His first musical score was for Where’s Charley? in 1948. He worked on four other Broadway musicals during his career—Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed, The Most Happy Fella, and Greenwillow—establishing him as one of the most influential figures in musical theater history. 3

Creating How to Succeed “The fact is that comedy is actually too serious to be taken seriously. It may be that comedy touches such deep emotions that people feel better if they can just dismiss it as trivial...I have watched people laughing, and for a moment they look–and are–absolutely helpless. Vulnerability. You can be assaulted while you are laughing.” – Abe Burrows

be Burrows first read Shepherd Mead’s book when it appeared in paperback in 1956. His agent suggested a musical adaptation, but Burrows initially rejected the idea: “I enjoyed the book, but who the hell would want to see a show about Big Business? Besides, even though the book was funny, there was no plot, no story to build on.” Instead, two writers, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, wrote a straight play based on the book. Finally, with a broad storyline and a basic comic structure off which to work, Burrows agreed to tackle the project. Convincing his friend and colleague Frank Loesser, with whom he had partnered on

Guys and Dolls ten years earlier, to collaborate, proved a challenge: not only did the source material lack a cohesive storyline, but the partners’ philosophies seemed in complete opposition with each other. Loesser was accustomed to a romantic, wistful style of music, in contrast with Burrows’ more humorous background— together, however, they struck a balance that proved invaluable to the production. Loesser insisted on a romance for the protagonist, not only because he was adept at writing such subject matter, but also to establish a sympathetic side to Finch’s character. Although the romance prompted the creation of one of the musical’s most memorable characters, Rosemary, who does not appear in Mead’s book, the story’s satirical style is what set it apart from other Tony and Pulitzer contenders that year. Both Loesser and Burrows had experience in the business world—Loesser with his music company, and Burrows in his early years as an accountant and Wall Street runner—and by extension, had a well of experience. The result, while satirical, was less bitter and cynical than it was mocking. As Burrows later described it: “I hadn’t written the show out of hatred. If you really hate something, you can’t satirize it…I’ve always had that qualified love for Big Your safest course is to hire only imbeciles as assistants. Business.” They will worship you—as assistants should!—and will The writing process took off after Loesser and never be able to threaten your position. 4 Burrows created “Coffee

Break,” not part of Mead’s original book. It established the comedic style for the rest of the production, or as Burrows put it: ”It was a helluvva a number and suddenly we saw daylight.” The unique structure and subject matter lent itself to an unconventional style and aesthetic, as well. Choreographer Bob Fosse, for example, recognized the kinetic possibilities for original choreography in a set of jerky, angular moves that parodied buttoned-down, uptight office attitudes. Set designer Robert Randolph created two-dimensional, line-drawn, flatcolored sets. The most iconic part of the original staging, however, was Robert Morse’s performance as Finch. Burrows knew Morse from earlier projects, and he was cast before the script was finalized. The character was written with its performer in mind, as was Rudy Vallee, who originated the role of J.B Biggley. The production was supposed to open in the spring of 1961, but because the script was still a work-in-progress, it was postponed until the fall. When rehearsals began, the final two scenes were nonexistent. Burrows and Loesser had no idea how to resolve the story after Finch’s treasure hunt goes awry. They were ultimately inspired by the Bay of Pigs invasion in April of that year, America’s abortive attempt to invade Cuba, and President Kennedy’s subsequent public statement in which he, as his country’s figurehead, accepted all blame. “Here’s a mighty nation caught in a jam and everybody except the President is blaming everybody else. And everybody else is blaming everybody who’s blaming everybody else,” Burrows said. The final two scenes mirror this national blame game, particularly Biggley’s heartfelt speech in which he asserts that “anything that happened is not my fault.” Audiences immediately recognized and responded to the allusion to Kennedy’s speech, and the play ended as unrealistically as it began. The musical was adapted for film in 1967 and featured many of the original performers, including Morse and Vallee. Its first major revival was in 1995; largely successful, Matthew Broderick won a Tony for his performance as Finch. It returned to Broadway again in 2011, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Finch and John Larroquette as Biggley.

Big Business: An American History Prior to the Second Industrial Revolution, the locally oriented American economy did not need offices as they are defined today. The early merchant was his own importer, exporter, banker, wholesaler, retailer, even shipowner. The nature of American business shifted radically, however, between 1850 and the early 20th century. A range of technological innovations, including the telegraph and railroad, increased production and allowed for more large-scale organizations, including Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Campbell’s Soup, more. The following timeline broadly examines the nature of American work from the Second Industrial Revolution, when the modern organization was established, through the 20th century, and up to a 21st-century corporate world dominated by Apple and Google. 1830: The American railroad industry begins with the first 13-mile track. The system demands operational activities and budgets on an entirely new scale. Railroad organizations establish an enormous hierarchical system, with clearly defined positions and responsibilities, which included individual managers to oversee operations. 1836: Massachusetts passes the first child labor restriction law, requiring all workers under the age of 15 to attend school at least three months out of the year. 1871: J.P. Morgan establishes Drexel, Morgan & Company on Wall Street in N.Y.C. He is soon earning over half a million dollars a year. 1882: Engineer Frederick W. Taylor performs time studies at Midvale Steel. His work lays the foundation of Scientific Management, a tightly organized system of labor aiming to achieve greater efficiency. 5

The 1950s and ‘60s “To be white, male, and healthy in New York in the 1950s was to be as blessed as any individual at any time in history. In the excited, urgent chatter in the new air-conditioned offices, in the packed bars and increasingly worldly restaurants, in the crammed theater lobbies and fifth avenue stores, there was a new confidence gained from global domination. New Yorkers basked in the health and wealth reflected back at them in the glass and chrome of their elegant, bustling streets.” — The Real Mad Men by Andrew Crackwell

merica was at the height of its confidence: a booming wartime economy evolved into a booming peacetime economy; veterans were returning home to start families; consumers had plenty of money to spend; and production increased to meet these sudden demands. At the cusp of this post-war euphoria was the bustling corporate world. The office of the 1950s and ‘60s was, in many ways, the embodiment of the American Dream; it allowed for a comfortable salary, an independent lifestyle, and room for advancement. Coming out of the war, factory jobs were more lucrative than whitecollar work; in response, clerical systems

emphasized the respectably and status of office work. Advertisements for jobs described “friendly” offices and bosses; attractive insurance and retirement plans became part of the financial rewards; and offices were physically being “landscaped.” They became color-coordinated with attractive furniture and comfortable music and lighting, not only for executives, but even for the office clerks and secretaries. New York was the pinnacle of this corporate revolution. Between 1950 and 1960 more new office space was added to New York than existed in the rest of the world. In one decade that one city more than doubled the world’s available office space. And all of it went upward, transforming, for example, midtown Park Avenue from a sedate backwater of domestic brownstones into a glistening river of glass and steel.

Success manuals

S 6

Stab the right backs.

hepherd Mead was blatantly satirizing Horatio Alger’s “rags to riches” mentality, and he had plenty of material to parody; ever since Benjamin Franklin wrote The Way to Wealth, authors and businessmen have written how-to guides for anxious young workers. The 1950s and ‘60s were particularly rife with such manuals, written by established businessmen hoping to pass on their secrets to ambitious young workers. On the opposite page is a timeline of such manuals, tracing how America defines success from Franklin’s iconic work through the 21st century.

1758: The Way to Wealth, Benjamin Franklin “God helps them that help themselves.” 1894: Pushing to the Front, Orison Swett Marden “Genius darts, flutters and tires; but perseverance wears and wins.” 1922: My Life and Work, Henry Ford “Good will is one of the few really important assets of life. A determined man can win almost anything that he goes after, but unless, in his getting, he gains good will he has not profited much.” 1937: Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill “We live in a world of over-abundance and everything the heart could desire, with nothing standing between us and our desires, excepting lack of a definite purpose.” 1940: The Secret Door to Success, Florence Scovel Shinn “You never saw a worried and anxious magnet. It stands up straight and hasn’t a care in the world because it knows needles can’t help jumping to it. The things we rightly desire come to pass when we have taken the clutch off.” 1951: How to Be Rich, John Paul Getty “To be truly rich, regardless of his fortune or lack of it, a man must live by his own values. If those values are not personally meaningful, then no amount of money gained can hide the emptiness of life without them.” 1982: Official Guide to Success, Tom Hopkins “Winners almost always do what they think is the most productive thing possible at every given moment; losers never do.” 1989: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey “What we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do... There are people we trust absolutely because we know their character. Whether they’re eloquent or not, whether they have the human relations techniques or not, we trust them, and we work successfully with them.” 2000: The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley “[Millionaires] live in lovely homes located in fine neighborhoods. Balance is their approach to life. They are financially independent, yet they enjoy life—they are not ‘all work, no play’ type of people.”

1906: Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle, a book detailing gruesome conditions in the Chicago meatpacking industry. Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act the same year. 1908: Henry Ford introduces the Model T car. During the next ten years, his assembly line production of this automobile will be widely copied and drive production costs down. In six years, his workers will be paid $5 a day, more than twice the average worker’s salary, and have a shortened workday. 1920: Only one-fourth of the population work as farmers, compared to three-fourths of the labor force at the end of the 19th century. The rest of the population works in manufacturing, trade, transportation, and domestic service. 1942: WWII begins. The draft causes a sudden depletion of workers, and women begin fulfilling nontraditional roles. At the beginning of the war, 12 million women comprised 25 percent of the workforce; by the end, 18 million women comprised one-third of the workforce. 1945: WWII ends. Consumer demand skyrockets and office space in New York City more than doubles. 1956: White-collar workers become the majority of the workforce for the first time in American history. 1956: Wiliam Whyte publishes The Organization Man, identifying a shift from the industrial Protestant work ethic to a system requiring corporate conformity. These Organizaion Men were “the ones of our middle class who left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization life,” sacrificing identity for occupational safety.

The American Dream Excerpted from Jon Meacham’s Time Magazine article, The American Dream: A Biography:

reams of God and of gold, not necessarily in that order, made America possible. The First Charter of Virginia—the 1606 document that authorized the founding of Jamestown—was 3,805 words long. Ninety-eight of them are about carrying religion to “such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God;” 97% of the charter concerns the taking of “all the Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds...” as well as orders to “dig, mine, and search for all Manner of Mines of Gold, Silver, and Copper.” Explorers in the 16th and 17th centuries sought riches; religious dissenters came seeking freedom of worship. In 1630 layman John Winthrop wrote a sermon alluding to America as “a city upon a hill,” explicitly linking the New World to the Sermon on the Mount. By founding the U.S. on the idea that a man’s natural rights included “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Thomas Jefferson put hope at the center of the national drama in 1776. The pursuit of happiness is a phrase philosophically

Be a leap frog. 8

rooted in the thinking of the Scottish Enlightenment, but it was only in America that the notion moved from theory to broad-based reality. This was partly because there was so much room to run in the New World. The vastness of the continent, the seemingly endless frontier, the staggering natural resources: these, combined with a formidable American work ethic, made the pursuit of happiness more than a full-time proposition. It was a consuming one, allenveloping. Suddenly birth mattered less than it ever had before. Entitled aristocracies crumbled before natural ones. If a man was white and willing to work, he stood a chance of transcending the circumstances of his father and his father’s father. By 1832, the height of the Age of Jackson, even Henry Clay, who thought Old Hickory an American Bonaparte, could

declare, “We are a nation of self-made men.” This American mythos continued as the nation moved West in the mid-19th century; the allure of the Great Frontier perpetuated the belief in the individual’s capacity to grow and prosper, both for himself and for future generations. As many Americans were packing up their homes and traveling West, a landmark book in the American Dream cannon was published: Horatio Alger’s 1867 novel, Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York with the Bootblacks. It told the story of a poor shoeshine boy who, despite his vices, is determined to “win a respectable position in the world” and begins his climb up the social ladder after rescuing a wealthy man’s son from drowning. Alger’s novel is overtly didactic; Dick’s success hinged on his “honesty, hard work, and cheerfulness in adversity,” and although he began as an orphaned street urchin, his inherent moral compass helped him reach respectability. Although Alger’s books are considered overly sentimental by modern standards, their influence on the American dream mythos is still enormous. He published more than 100 novels, all of which followed the same basic structure. Alger described his heroes as: “Manly boys, bright, cheerful, hopeful, and plucky. Goody-goody boys never win life’s prizes. Strong yet gentle, ready to defend those that are weak, willing to work for their families if called upon to do so. Such boys are sure to succeed.” The actual philosophy that Alger brought to life—the American Dream—was not coined until 1931, when James Truslow Adams, published The Epic of America. In it, Adams emphasizes that the American Dream does not represent a quest for wealth or material abundance, but rather a vision for self-actualization and personal fulfillment. He writes: “A land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

1960: Robert Propst introduces the Action Office, a workspace layout meant to allow freedom of movement for optimal productivity. The second version of the Action Office was composed of mobile wall unites, eventually dubbed cubicles. The cubicle came to represent bureaucracy at its worst, the exact opposite of what Probst intended– ”monolithic insanity” as he described it. By 1980, half of American whitecollar workers were situated in cubicle farms. 1963: Congress passes the Equal Pay Act in the hopes of abolishing wage disparity based on gender. 1974: Congress passes the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, providing for the regulation of most pension and health funds established by private employers. 1980: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues regulations defining sexual harassment and declaring that it is a form of sexual discrimination banned by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 2001: The ratio of average pay between a CEO and an average production worker worker is 525:1, a major jump from 42:1 in 1982. 2007: Higher education becomes increasingly important as qualification for work. In this year, nearly 29 percent of Americans over the age of 25 have completed four years of college, up from about 20 percent in 1987, 10 percent in 1967, and 5 percent in 1947. 2008: Following the housing bubble burst, the U.S. enters a two-year economic recession. Thousands of jobs are lost, reaching a record 10 percent unemployment rate in 2009.

Rising to the Top—T g readers to believe Horatio Alger’s heroes inspired countless youn too could ascend the social that, with hard work and a bit of luck, they r’s novels followed the ladder and achieve their dreams. Each of Alge ething like this: same basic narrative, which went a little som

A plucky yet downtrodden hero is introduced; born into neglect, his future seems grim. An innate sense of morality and drive, however, inspires him to dream of much more.

I’ve knowed what it was to be hungry and cold, with nothin’ to eat or to warm me; but there’s one thing I never could do; I never stole. It’s mean and I wouldn’t do it.

Nobody ever cared enough for me before to give me good advice. It was kicks, and cuffs, and swearin' at me all the time.

Our hero befriends a young fellow of social standing, who introduces him to the finer things in life and inspires him “turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up ‘spectable.”

The Horatio Alger Way y old drop m of myself I must k in h nd t on name a g gentleman n u o y d an as a to fame the way ne. fortu

It reminds me of Cinderella when she was changed into a fairy princess. I wonder if I aint dreaminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. I'm afraid I'm dreamin' and shall wake up in a barrel, as I did night afore last.

I didn't stop to think of the danger, but I wasn't going to see that little fellow drown without tryin' to save him.

Hard work, perseverence, thrift, and virtuosity propel our hero up the social ladder. He climbs from rung to rung, winning the admiration of those above him, until he reaches his ultimate goal: a respectable career, a comfortable income, and a place among the upper class.

Our hero learns how the middle class lives; determined to climb the social ladder himself, he instructs himself on how to dress, speak, and act like a gentleman.

In an act of moral bravery, our hero earns the respect of a wealthy adult patron, who rewards him with an apprenticeship.

Business Etiquette: Men

elcome, gentlemen, to the office world! We have everything a young businessman could want: bottomless expense accounts, drinks and cigarettes at every meeting, attractive secretaries, fashionable furniture and music in every office—and much more. Although this glamorous office atmosphere may sound like a dream come true, there are some rules to keep in mind to ensure a happy and constructive working environment for everyone. Before you begin your work, please familiarize yourself with the following excerpt Chapter 20: A Man’s Manners in the Business World, of Miss Amy Vanderbilt’s 1959 Complete Book of Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious Living:

Young men who want to become executive material must do more than apply themselves to the technique of their jobs. They must school themselves in social as well as in business manners if they want to get ahead. They must learn how to dress, how to conduct themselves on social and business occasions, how to communicate their ideas in concise, well-chosen language. We have all known successful businessmen whose grammar was bad, whose taste in clothes was atrocious, and who broke every rule of good manners, if indeed they knew any existed. The great corporations invariably practice a most formal business etiquette. Their façade is imposing, they employ well-dressed, soft-spoken receptionists, they provide private offices and interoffice communications to cut down on noise and traffic. They usually exercise considerable control over the behavior and appearance of their employees.

his desk and a superior, man or woman, enters, he rises and waits until he is asked to be seated again or the caller leaves.

In business a man does not rise when his secretary enters his office to take dictation, although if she is newly assigned to him as his personal secretary he does rise to greet her and to shake her hand if he offers it. He rises if he has a woman caller—unless she is a job applicant for a nonexecutive position. If he is on the telephone or dictating when she enters, he nods, indicates a chair, and rises when he has concluded his conversation. If he is at

A Man’s Secretary

When Does a Man Rise?

Who Precedes Whom? In leaving a room in a business office a man always steps back to allow his superior to go first if the other is about to leave too, or, if there seems to be some delay, asks his permission to go first. From the standpoint of superiority, the top executives certainly have the privilege of leaving before their inferior women employees, but I have noticed that, even in business, most gentlemen step aside, no matter what the capacity, to permit the women present to go first, even women in nonexecutive capacities.

Smoking in the Office

A superior, man or woman, calling upon another employee may, of course, smoke without asking permission, but an outsider may not smoke in the office of someone else unless he is asked to do so. A really experienced and urbane executive keeps his relations with his secretary on a friendly but purely business basis even after years of association. In very informal offices a secretary is sometimes called by her first name, especially in small towns where everybody knows everybody else. But to an outsider—and remember, such business may grow to

be big, impersonal corporations in time—it seems less than businesslike and sometimes a shade too intimate for a man to call his secretary “Mary” instead of “Miss Jones,” at least in office hours.

The Pretty Secretary

It is only human for a man to want his secretary to be neat, attractive, and, if possible, pretty. He has to look at her all day long. But the more attractive she is, the more, for his own and her protection, he must treat her with careful, polite objectivity. The quickest way to trouble, a straight line into the maze of gossipy office politics, is for a man to pay more than business attention to his secretary. If it happens that both are free to have some social life together, if they wish, they should still maintain formal relations in the office if their efficiency is not to suffer. Even at that, it is difficult for the woman, especially, not to show others that she has her boss under rather special control.

The Telephone In a personal service organization—one that depends on its daily contact with others for its business—an executive should answer his own phone, if possible. Many a deal has been queried by a snippy secretary’s self-important announcement to the telephone caller, “This is Mr. Brown’s secretary speaking. What did you want to talk to him about?” It is always that awkward and infuriating past-tense phrase, too. Mr. Brown is probably right there swaying back in his swivel chair and quite able to pick up the phone himself. If he’s any kind of an executive, he can dispose of unwanted callers with tact and dispatch and he does not run the risk of cutting off his business blood supply. But in case a man or woman

executive is really busy, it is vital in almost any kind of business for the intermediary to handle the call in a way that will not hurt the firm’s public relations. Humanly enough, many secretaries built up their employers’ importance in their own minds in order to bolster their own egos, and this reluctance to let the outside world—no matter how important the call is—at the Great Being is all too apparent.

Socializing with Employees

From the employer’s standpoint this is rarely essential except perhaps in a small community for him and his wife to pay serious social attention to the families of junior executives. Business luncheons, an occasional drink, perhaps, with a younger man, or a few rounds of golf often suffice. Executives who are too close socially often work less well, rather than better, together, for they lose their objectivity or at least feel they should repress it. It is a good thing in business to be able to speak out fair and valuable criticism without thought of close friendship. Staff promotions, too, are better handled when the owners are on relatively formal terms with all employees rather than intimate with a chosen few.

Hand-pick your secretary. 13

Business Etiquette: Women

reetings, ladies, and welcome to the exciting world of Big Business! The office can be intimidating at first, especially for a woman. You may think that your delicate nature and maternal instincts will not fit in with the rugged competitiveness of man’s work, but this is far from true. We need women in the office, to greet us and our clients with a smile, take dictation with a cheery disposition, serve coffee and refreshments for meetings— sometimes, we even need women as executives! Before you embark on this new chapter of your career, please read chapter 23 of Miss Amy Vanderbilt’s etiquette book: A Woman’s Manners in the Business World.

Business leaders are quite conscious of the fact that women in business are also pulled in the direction of domesticity. Either they are in the marriage market, with few exceptions, or involved in the dual and difficult role of marriage plus a career. Today more married women than single women are in business. They are there to earn their livings or to help out the family income. And most of them have complete management of their homes as well. It’s hard to face this, but no woman can find happiness in putting career above her husband and family. Once she has taken on woman’s natural responsibilities, whatever work she undertakes must be done in a way that deprives the family the least for some deprivation they must endure if she works at all. Once encumbered she must have something very special in the way of talent to offer an employer to make hiring her worth while, at least while her children are young. Everywhere we meet women who seem to overcome the difficulties of the dual role, but the hard truth is that more women with young children fail at making happy homes while working full time than succeed.

Basic Etiquette Secretarial schools send forth their fresh young graduates well equipped with elementary rules of office etiquette. As a result the American secretary is usually a well-mannered, poised young woman. The girl who has not gone through business school, however, and who comes to 14 a firm in a junior executive capacity

often has much to learn. However competent she may be in business no woman should conduct herself in any but a dignified feminine manner. The brusque, unwomanly woman is anything but attractive in or out of business. And, equally, of course, the overly-feminine, coy female is just as uncomfortable to have around.

Appearance

Appearance is of primary importance, of course. Neatness and quietness of apparel are important. Conservative hairdressing, makeup, and a minimum of jewelry are equally so. Sunback dresses, evening-sheer stockings, French heels, Mandarin nails, sweaters, and overwhelming perfume are taboo.

Promptness

Employers are paying for time on the job, so women executives, junior or senior, should get to their work promptly and once in the office start the day with a minimum of primping and colloquy in the restroom. Make-up repair should be in private, never at a desk, except in a private office.

Taking Orders

One of the most important things a woman in business can learn is to take an order and carry it out. This requires listening to the order without interruption, then asking any necessary questions that may clarify it. The woman who cultivates the ability to listen, to grasp instructions,

and to carry them out without chatter or argument gets on in a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world.

tempting target for a jealous male associate. She rubs him the wrong way, threatens his position, overrides his suggestions, and tramples on his pride. She forgets the feminine graces and cajoleries and tries to meet him man-to-man. If women in business would only remember that they are women in businesses they would meet so much less resistance from men. No amount of professional conditioning will ever overcome the very real fact of femaleness.

Smoking and Eating

Most organizations have rules concerning smoking on the job and eating at desks. If smoking is permitted, women should smoke in such a way that it does not interfere with work output. A chain-smoking woman is much more likely to be criticized than is a man with the same habit. Candy eating or coffee drinking, when permitted at a desk, should be done during a work-pause, then wrappers or containers removed from sight.

Attitude Toward Other Women

Personal Business Even a well-placed woman executive limits her incoming and outgoing telephone calls. Social chit-chat in an office annoys other workers and, even when indulged in by an employer, sets a poor example. Personal letters should not be written on office time, unless they are done during lunch hours. Friends and relatives should be strongly discouraged from visiting employees or even top executives. When such a visit does occur it should not be made a general social occasion.

It has been said many times that women have difficulty as executives because they treat other business women associates as implacable rivals, as if they were competing on a sexual rather than an intellectual level. This does seem to be true, that there is little real solidarity among women. It helps to be conscious of the competitive feeling and thus make an effort to modify it.

The Woman Executive

A woman who achieves executive status of some kind must guard against being dictatorial at home as well as in the office. Men meet with their frustrations on the way up but not to the same degree, that is, on the ground of sex, as women. Therefore when a woman does arrive she tends to become irritatingly important. When she gives an order she wants action, and never mind the human element. It is very hard sometimes for a woman to continue to be warm and feminine and kindly once she has received business or professional recognition. Actually, she needs all these qualities more than ever if she is to keep on advancing and if her marital chances or relations are not Sex to be harmed. The very important woman is a

will be the farthest thing from the male interviewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts! 15

How to Succeed at Olney

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Explore how Olney Theatre Center’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying developed from page to stage with these rehearsal photos and insight from the artistic team.

I wanted something that had an edge to it that expressed my point of view about why the stories we tell in theater are important. What I love most about How to Succeed is how it puts a big question mark at the end of the American Dream. One can’t have lived through the past five years in this country without thinking about the 99 and 1 percent, without thinking about Occupy Wall Street, without thinking, ‘Is income mobility and social mobility really possible today?’

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—Jason Loewith, Director

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We were really interested in exploring the gender divide that exists within the world of the play and making that really physicalized. We’ve done so by making the gentlemen’s movements rectangular, angular, structured like a men’s suit. The lady’s is curved, accentuating the curve of the lady’s body, taking circular paths in the space to try and express the dichotomy. As a choreographer I try to engage the actors in a conversation about the performance and design of their performance. I ask them for their help in making them character-specific; I come in with a rhythm, a shape, an idea of gesture; then I ask them to specify with their character, so we’re creating a world a where people are unified by their intentions.

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—Tommy Rapley, Choreographer

Top left: Jason Loewith and Aileen Goldberg. Bottom left: Sherri L. Edelen and male ensemble in “Brotherhood of Man.” Top right: Chris Rudy, Maggie Donnelly, and ensemble in “Brotherhood of Man.” Bottom right: Tommy Rapley and Dan Van Why.

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I love that time period, the difference between men and women in how they perceive things, as well as the fun colors and shapes of the ‘50s and ‘60s. There’s a romance to it as well as a lot of tension between the sexes. It’s one of the last eras where there’s a really huge difference between men and women that’s really shown by how they dressed. Women, even in the workplace, were still expected to conform and dress like the expected version of women, to not unsex themselves by wearing pants. You see women in wide skirts and things like that; it shows that they are really women even though they’re in a man’s world.

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Top left: Ashleigh King and David Landstrom in “Brotherhood of Man.” Bottom left: Taylor Elise Rector, Allie Parris, and ensemble in “Brotherhood of Man.” Top right: Colleen Hayes and Lawrence Redmond in “Heart of Gold.” Middle right: Chris Youstra, Maggie Donnelly, and Kurt Boehm.

—Seth Gilbert, Costume Designer

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What I like about How to Succeed is that it’s a really great score. It’s moving us into the hot jazz sound that started becoming more and more prevalent on Broadway in the ‘60s... What really stands out with this show is that we deliberately hired a bunch of really creative actors and artistic team, so what’s been fun is playing around with every moment of the show and trying to get as much humor out of the songs as we can.

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—Chris Youstra, Music Director

Congratulations, employee, on completing your World Wide Wickets orientation! If you feel confident in your newly established corporate abilities, go forth and begin your ascent up the company ladder. Remember, however, that learning is only the first step in any ambitious man’s road to success. Keep in mind the wise words of Shepherd Mead: “Some men spend their whole lives learning, and when they finish they may have little in the bank, but they are rich indeed. However, you are headed for the Top, so don’t overdo this. Learn the business, yes, but you have other far more important things to learn, too.” Welcome aboard, new employee, and good luck!

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This context guide was created by Maegan Clearwood, Dramaturgy Apprentice, and edited by Jason King Jones, Olney Theatre Center Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education, 2014.