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How Lee Iacocca rebounded after a layoff
Keep developing your ideas
Gorick Ng
May 12, 2026 • Read Time:3 minutes
It seems like every day, another company is laying people off.
If this is you or someone else you know, I hope you'll find solace in the story below (which is actually the very first story I wrote for my newsletter series).
Here's to brighter times ahead,
Gorick
TODAY’S TAKEAWAY
Keep developing your ideas.
Sometimes they need a different spin or to be heard by an entirely new audience.
THE STORY
After he was fired, the ex-President of Ford bounced back
It’s July 1978. Lee Iacocca was just fired as President of Ford after spending 32 years at the auto company.
Lee Iacocca
When Iacocca asked Henry Ford II, his boss, why he was fired, Ford replied, “Sometimes you just don’t like somebody.”
This could have been the end of Iacocca’s career. But no.
The following year, Chrysler, a competing automaker, hired Iacocca. Iacocca brought with him an idea that he had advocated for at Ford but that had been dismissed: a van that was big enough to fit a family but small enough to fit into a garage.
Fast forward, and Iacocca led Chrysler to pioneer the North American minivan.
So, the next time you see a minivan, remember that it may not exist had Iacocca not gotten fired—and brought his ideas with him.
The North American minivan
THE UNSPOKEN RULE
Keep developing your ideas.
A robot can automate a task. An employer can lay you off. But your ideas? They’re what make you irreplaceable. And just because one person doesn’t like you or your ideas doesn’t mean you're worthless or that your ideas are dumb. You might just need a different audience.
Laid off (or worried about getting laid off)?
Look around at your job and complete this sentence: “It would have been so much better / faster / cheaper / easier if we had done [your idea] instead of [status quo]."
Look around the world and complete this sentence: “[Other organization] would love [your idea] because [everything you can learn about them].”
Now, ask yourself: "Who do I know at [other organization]?" or "Who do I know who can introduce me to [other organization]?"
You might learn, as Iacocca did, that you're onto something. You just need to find someone who thinks so too.
Not every idea will be worth your time, but some will be.
I know it because I’ve experienced it: If I hadn’t kept an ideas list when I found myself thinking, Wow, how come no one ever taught me how to manage my manager? I wouldn’t have gone on to write my book, The Unspoken Rules.
See you next week for our next story and unspoken rule!
—Gorick
WHAT I’M READING
Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):
MORE OF MY WORK
Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:
1. Keynote speaking: If your organization is looking for speakers for your internship program, new hire orientation, new student orientation, manager training, all-hands meetings, recruiting season, year-end performance evaluation season, or something else, let's chat!
2. How to Say It: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting via hundreds of fill-in-the-blank scripts (just like the examples above). Free shipping on all orders over $40.
3. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck.” Used by top companies and MBA programs.
4. Soft skills crash course: Hard skills get you hired, but a lack of soft skills gets you fired. Equip your interns and early career talent with the essential behaviors of high performers in just 3.5 hours.
Gorick Ng
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Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen
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