The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to be One

In Short

This is a didactic fable about the nature of professional reliability and the relentless spirit of the "go-getter." When a wealthy, aging lumber tycoon, Cappy Ricks, finds his business plagued by incompetence and internal rot, he decides to test a promising, one-armed war veteran named Bill Peck for a high-stakes management position. By tasking him with a seemingly impossible errand—the "Degree of the Blue Vase"—Ricks probes Peck’s character. The book has endured because it strips away corporate fluff to focus on the singular, timeless virtue of getting the job done.

The Story

Mr. Alden P. Ricks, known as Cappy, is a retired but still meddlesome magnate overseeing a vast shipping and lumber empire from his office in San Francisco. Surrounded by what he calls "mental duds"—managers who lack the spine to make independent decisions—Cappy is desperate for a successor who possesses true force and initiative. His frustration peaks when his Shanghai office is left in shambles by an absconding manager, and his current leadership team, including his son-in-law Matt Peasley and his manager Mr. Skinner, proves unable to select a suitable replacement.

Enter Bill Peck, a war veteran with a partially disabled arm and a limp, who walks into Cappy’s office with no introduction and asks for a job. He is not a polished applicant, but his raw confidence and refusal to be turned away intrigue Cappy. Over the objections of a skeptical Mr. Skinner, Cappy bullies his staff into hiring Peck and setting him to work on the company’s most undesirable, slow-moving inventory: "skunk spruce."

Peck proves himself by selling the unsellable. Impressed, but not yet convinced, Cappy decides to put him through the "Degree of the Blue Vase," an initiation test he reserves for those he considers worthy of significant responsibility. He instructs Peck to buy a specific, obscure blue vase from a shop in San Francisco and deliver it to him on a train heading out of town that same night.

The task is designed to fail. Cappy gives incorrect coordinates, the shop is locked, the owner is impossible to reach, and the Sunday night timing makes financing the purchase nearly impossible. Peck battles through the city, dealing with mistaken identities, unhelpful bureaucrats, and his own physical exhaustion. He eventually secures the vase by hunting down the proprietor, borrowing money against a ring he took from a German soldier in the war, and chasing the train by light plane to force it to stop in a field.

When he finally delivers the vase to Cappy’s stateroom in the middle of the night, he is not met with a reprimand for his lateness, but with a promotion to manager of the Shanghai office. Cappy reveals the test was a ruse to ensure Peck could overcome any obstacle. The vase itself, worth pennies, becomes a symbol of the ten-thousand-dollar-a-year contract Peck has earned. The story concludes with the two men finding common ground in the shared philosophy of the military: when tasked with an objective, the only appropriate answer is, "It shall be done."

How It Unfolds

The crisis of confidence Cappy Ricks laments the lack of backbone among his subordinates, who fail to manage their distant offices effectively. He determines that he needs a "go-getter"—someone who can make high-stakes decisions six thousand miles away from headquarters without needing permission.

The arrival of the candidate Bill Peck, a battle-scarred veteran, enters the office and demonstrates an unflappable self-assurance that cuts through the bureaucratic resistance of the firm's managers. Cappy intervenes to force Peck’s employment, betting that the young man’s war-hardened tenacity will translate to business success.

The test of character Cappy assigns Peck an errand that is intentionally sabotaged with misinformation and logistical traps. Peck discovers the shop is closed and the proprietor is unreachable, yet he refuses to abandon the mission, exhausting every avenue of influence to secure the item.

The final objective Even after the train departs, Peck does not quit, chartering a plane to intercept the locomotive in the countryside. He successfully delivers the vase, proving to Cappy that he possesses the internal drive to ignore the word "impossible."

The validation Cappy reveals the true nature of the test and confirms Peck’s appointment to the Shanghai office. The two men bond over their shared respect for the military ethos of absolute obedience and results-oriented persistence.

The People

Cappy Ricks is an aging, mercurial tycoon who functions as the story’s architect. He is defined by his deep cynicism toward his own employees and a desperate, hidden desire to find a protégé who embodies his own youthful drive. He serves as the judge, using manipulative tests to strip away pretense and reveal the core character of others.

Bill Peck is the protagonist, a man whose physical injuries from the war are matched by a mental toughness that refuses to acknowledge defeat. He wants to prove his worth in the business world, and his defining trait is his internal discipline—he acts not out of a desire for money, but from a profound need to satisfy his own standards of loyalty and performance.

Mr. Skinner acts as the foil to both Ricks and Peck. As the general manager, he is efficient, cold, and bureaucratic. He represents the "mental duds" Cappy despises; he values protocol, safety, and lack of risk over the raw, messy, and inspired initiative that Peck brings to the firm.

In Its Own Voice

Cappy Ricks explains why standard training is insufficient when a manager is stationed far from the home office:

"But will he possess force and initiative when he has to make a quick decision six thousand miles from expert advice, and stand or fall by that decision? That's what we want to know, Skinner."

Bill Peck defines his own professional philosophy during his initial job interview:

"I have always found, however, that before proceeding to sell goods I had to sell the manufacturer of those goods something, to-wit--myself!"

When Peck arrives on the train to finish his mission, he expresses his refusal to quit:

"It was absolutely impossible for me to accomplish the task within the time limit set, but I was resolved that you should not be disappointed."

What It's Really About

At its core, this book argues that professional success is a byproduct of character, not credentials. It posits that "experience" is often just a mask for risk-aversion, and that the only true asset in a leader is the ability to assume total responsibility for an outcome. The book’s central question is not about how to do a job, but how to maintain one's integrity when the obstacles—both intentional and accidental—become insurmountable. It champions the idea that an organization takes its shape from the top, and that a leader’s most important duty is to cultivate an esprit de corps where every member is committed to the mission regardless of the difficulty.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic, hard-boiled tales of meritocracy will find this book deeply satisfying. It moves with a swift, punchy pace, reflecting the impatience of its characters. For a modern reader, the book offers a fascinating look at the early 20th-century business ethos—a time when corporate culture was defined by blunt directives, paternalistic management, and the glorification of "the salesman."

The language is rhythmic and colorful, filled with the clipped, urgent slang of the post-WWI era. However, contemporary readers should be prepared for the period-specific attitudes; Cappy Ricks’ dialogue is peppered with archaic idioms and a casual, often abrasive style that treats subordinates with a mix of affection and outright hostility. There is also an unvarnished, almost romanticized view of military service that permeates the entire plot, which may feel jarring to those accustomed to more nuanced portrayals of war and its aftermath.

Despite these dated elements, the core of the story remains sharp. It is an unpretentious, single-minded study of personal accountability. If you are looking for a story that feels like a stiff drink after a long day—direct, brisk, and entirely focused on the necessity of winning—this book remains a compelling, if narrow, window into a bygone style of ambition.