_Receiving Instructions._--When you receive instructions from higher authority be sure you get their true meaning before you begin to act. The subordinate with the quick, cheerful, "Yes, sir," and away to the task, leaves a pleasant sensation until we discover that he has bungled the job because he did not half understand what we wanted. Take time to understand, but do not quibble about little details nor fuss about the way in which the instructions are expressed. You are expected to use your own sense and ingenuity in executing these instructions, so be sure that you have grasped their spirit and purpose, and then go to their execution with an enthusiasm and loyalty which will carry the same spirit to the men. _How to Encourage Suggestions._--We have spoken of the value of encouraging subordinates to make suggestions for improvements, etc., of how they may add to the general efficiency, and how they certainly increase the man's pleasure in his work and thus his personal efficiency through giving play to his constructive instincts and his natural desire for self-expression. The point now is how these suggestions are to be encouraged. Certainly not by superficial methods. For example, an organization which had accepted the idea of the value of suggestions from the men tried simply to buy them off-hand by inaugurating a bi-weekly prize rewarding contest in giving suggestions. It was their notion that for a prize of five dollars some employee was going to tell them how to make two blades of grass grow in place of one. This method missed all appreciation of the fundamental principles involved and of course ended in a farce. These suggestions we want spring naturally from the interest and partnership you have made the men feel in the organization; from the ideas for improvement which they then evolve as they carry on at their work, thinking how it might be done better or how the team might get bigger results. The only encouragement they need is first this atmosphere of partnership; and second, a boss who has sense enough to give their suggestions fair consideration. The leader who has not the time or patience to listen to suggestions can never get the best efforts of the men, and is doing the enterprise real damage.