ABSTRACT
When Bill and I started W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. on January 1, 1958, we dreamed of establishing a company based on products from a very special polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). More important to both of us was how we envisioned building an organization of associates dedicated to the success of this fledging enterprise. We wanted to know the people with whom we worked. Bill was convinced, from his previous work experience, that the potentials of people to contribute in significant ways to the organizational objectives were limited by the restrictive operative structures that were imposed by most large organizations of the day.
