We all have two kinds of screwdriver at home, the slot-head (looks like a minus sign) and Phillips (looks like a plus sign).
The slot-head was the first and simplest screwdriver, that was what all screws looked like, but in 1932 John P Thompson invented the cross-head screw and screwdriver.
But it isn’t called the Thompson Screwdriver after the man who invented it, it’s called the Phillips Screwdriver.
Because Thompson had no idea how to market it, so he gave up and sold the patent to Henry F Phillips.
Thompson knew his cross-head system was better, double the number of slots and a pointed tip meant it could stand more applied torque and it wouldn’t keep slipping out as much as conventional screwdrivers did.
But Thompson had been trying to sell his system to consumers.
Naturally, ordinary people didn’t see the point, everything they owned was made with old-fashioned screws, and they had screwdrivers for that.
Why did they need a cross-head screwdriver when they didn’t have any cross-head screws?
Thompson had created an answer for a question that no one asked.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “If you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door.”
Unfortunately, that isn’t true.
If no-one needs a mousetrap, why would they come to your door?
But Henry F Phillips saw the possibilities weren’t in ordinary people using crosshead screws, but in machines using crosshead screws.
By 1936, the industrial age was in full swing across America.
Everything was made on production lines with power tools.
Old-fashioned screws were clumsy and slowed everything up, the screwdriver had to be carefully positioned or it slipped out.
Machines didn’t work well with slot-head screws.
But, crucially, the crosshead screwdriver had a pointed tip.
That made it self-centring, so a machine could position it easily.
And twice as many slots meant it could take greater torque, so it was perfect for assembly-line power tools.
Phillips persuaded General Motors that it was a superior system so they should use it on their top-of-the-line brand, the Cadillac.
‘The screws that Cadillac use’ was a great ad for the Phillips screw.
But then Phillips was even smarter.
Other manufacturers wanted this ‘Cadillac of screws’ so Phillips needed someone to make a lot of his screws, fast.
Instead of trying to manufacture the screws himself, he sold the licensing rights to every screw manufacturer willing to pay.
Within five years, 88% of American screw suppliers were paying Phillips to manufacture his screws.
Which meant that virtually every product used Phillips screws.
Which meant that anyone wanting to repair them at home would need to buy Phillips screwdrivers.
Phillips understood that owning a little of a lot is worth more than owning a lot of a little.
The insight was in not trying to sell Phillips screws to ordinary people.
Ordinary people had no need of a new screwdriver.
But by letting every manufacturer pay him for the rights to make the screws, Phillips created an industry and a market far bigger than he could have supplied on his own.
Phillips understood you don’t just look around for problems to solve, sometimes you have to create a problem for the solution you’ve got.
As Steve Jobs said, “It’s not the man-in-the-street’s job to know what he’s going to want next year. That’s my job.”
Wouldn’t quite work these days because some people would just make the screws without paying the licensing – just like some use songs at rallies without consent (or penalty)
Hi Dave,
Love your writing. If this topic amuses you, then I suggest you also look at Robertson screws and drivers (the square holed ones).
These are kind of a funny story in themselves. Initially they were marketed for the same automation friendly assembly as Phillips yet with better grip for the driver bit, but they had some downsides in being a bit weaker so the heads could shear off. Then in some parts of the world, the US for one, they were used as vandal proof screws because the screwdrivers were not available in those markets, apparently for licensing reasons. They were immensely popular in public fixtures like playgrounds and toilets. I worked for a company in Canada, where I believe they were invented, that used these and for the US we had to ship a screwdriver with our products so the customers could service them.
If you want to go further in the weeds, related to both these was the introduction of the slot holed self tapping screws (both Phillips and Robertson) used in slapdash sheet metal assembly. Sometimes referred to as the Chrysler screw for its use during the worst days of Detroit automotive assembly quality. No hangover was going to stop a worker from getting that fender attached!