The Go-Getter

A Story That Tells You How to Be One

Peter B. Kyne 1921

A short business story follows Bill Peck, a wounded war veteran seeking work at a lumber company. His search for a blue vase turns a simple errand into an increasingly difficult test.

40 pages 47 min reading time

A classic American business parable, still handed to new employees and sales teams a century after it first appeared.
Argues that the most valuable worker is one who gets the job done no matter what stands in the way, without excuses or needing to be told how.
Shows that a person's character and determination matter more to an employer than their background, education, or physical limits.
The phrase "the blue vase" became shorthand in business circles for a near-impossible task that tests whether someone will see it through.
It became a model for the short motivational business story, a form later used in many popular workplace books.

Drawn from real work

The author had worked in San Francisco's lumber and shipping trade, the same world the story shows.
Starring a familiar face

The tough old boss, Cappy Ricks, already starred in the author's earlier popular stories and books.
A veteran writing veterans

The author had served as an Army officer in World War I, like his wounded hero Bill Peck.
First told in a magazine

The story first appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine before coming out as a small book.