In 1960, 11 years after he founded the company that became Circuit City, my father Sam Wurtzel was reading a book he couldn’t put down: The Human Side of Enterprise, by MIT professor Douglas McGregor. McGregor had been writing on the topic for years — including in this 1957 article (restrospective commentary from 1972) on performance appraisals in HBR — and Sam was captivated by his ideas. The next morning, he called McGregor’s office and asked for a meeting with him. Initially rebuffed, he flew to Boston and called again only to be told the professor was still unavailable. But Sam was creative and tenacious. Finally, he said, “I am staying at the XYZ hotel and will wait here as many days as necessary to see him.” In a few minutes, the secretary called back and arranged an appointment for the next day.