In a Washington Post column, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote that he had found an excellent indicator of companies with good prospects. If the employees said, “we” are introducing a new production system, the innovation was likely to succeed, but if the employees said “they” are introducing a new production system, success was less likely. Secretary Reich's pronoun‐test‐for‐success reflects a fundamental law of nature that is too often ignored by those who run American businesses: Success depends on a cooperative team effort.