The Culture of Taylor, Today, and Tomorrow (Reprise)

Proposed: That Dr. Seuss’ children’s books be banned from further publication and sale. This is based on the fact that his ridiculous rhyming patterns have been challenged as grammatically incorrect, the improper use of syntax sets a bad example, characters created by him have the possibility of seriously traumatizing children… oh yes, and he is dead. Ridiculous logic? Of course, but that doesn’t stop us from discounting the work of people of historical importance that are currently in disfavor. In 1930, Clyde W. Tombaugh caused a major stir in the scientific community when he discovered a ninth planet in the solar system, Pluto. Decades later in 2006, kids left school for their summer break only to return in the fall and be told that Pluto was no longer a planet. Nothing changed… it was still there… but it was suddenly demoted by the body of scientists that are in charge of demoting things. This was more disturbing to some of us adult Pluto advocates than the changing of the pronunciation of the planet Uranus so that it didn’t sound dirty.

Background

Even though he died almost 100 years ago, Frederick Winslow Taylor remains a controversial figure today. Coming from an affluent family, he was a brilliant man who decided after passing the entrance exam to Harvard Law School with honors to become an apprentice patternmaker and machinist. In what must have been a baptism of fire, he completed four years of grueling apprenticeship and became a machine shop common laborer in a steel factory. As “one of the guys” he noticed with some concern that nobody seemed to be interested in working their machines to their maximum performance, much less push themselves to excel. This offended his Quaker roots and his affluent upbringing. Even though he was working with his hands there must have been a closer relationship to minds of the owners than the workers. When he became a foreman the other workers dared him to try and change things.

He later described this worker activity as “soldiering” and observed, “Hardly a competent workman can be found who does not devote a considerable amount of time to studying just how slowly he can work and still convince his employer that he is going at a good pace.” According to Taylor, the three primary reasons for this inefficiency were a fear that increased output would reduce the labor force, a dysfunctional system of management, and a total lack of the ability to measure output. A pioneer in creating standards he became an advocate for the use of technology to measure productivity. He was called the “Father of Scientific Management” by his followers. He was called “The biggest bastard ever” by the Marxists. His innovations created the field of industrial engineering with the invention of time and motion studies. Productivity increased as a result of his work, but in the end he was accused of destroying the soul of work by dehumanizing the factories.

Legacy

If we can stumble past his well known lack of regard for the worker, he espoused the basic theory that part of the problem was that rule-of-thumb methods of measurement needed to be replaced by scientific measurements. If we can excuse his early comments about stupid workers, we must also give him credit for scientifically selecting and developing workers in the interest of efficiency. Give him credit also for his theory that management needed to cooperate with workers and that the responsibility for work should be divided equally between management and labor. While he did introduce methods that improved productivity and maximized output, his methods allowed for only one right solution and workers were basically tools. Labor generally disliked these techniques because it made routine tasks repetitive, boring and unfulfilling in the name of productivity.

Today

It is generally accepted that the origin of his theories may have been inhumane and degrading, but what we learned from him remains in force today.

1. HRM – Contributed to the development of the personnel function.
2. Selection Management – Advocated scientific methods for choosing those to join the workforce.
3. Training – Tackled the problems of uneducated but skilled workers.
4. Performance Standards – Formulated detailed processes and how they should be executed.
5. Incentivization of Work – Created rewards for workers that met or exceeded performance goals.
6. Consultancy – Communicated knowledge publicly by promoting management methods through lecturing, writing, and consulting.

Evolving management theory has latched on to his key points and expanded this factory efficiency concept and applied it to other areas. To some management academics, Taylorism is still a four letter word, but the beginnings of industrial psychology began to build on the foundation that Taylor constructed. His theories may have originated from the idea that workers were stupid and didn’t care, but he was able to raise the level of importance of the factory worker to a degree that could be mimicked in an office environment. Once management theory became concerned with the people factor, it was recognized that meeting personal needs would further enhance productivity. The work environment became increasingly important.

Tomorrow

To ignore the thought that there was once a planet called Taylorism is to throw out the baby with the bath water. The basic tenets are as sound today as they were in 1900, but factors that have been at work to mold modern management style are also constantly evolving. Institutions that become stagnant and are resistant to change will crumble as new and more viable practices emerge. Powerful influences are pushing management thought at rapid pace.

1. Technology – Modern digital technology is putting scientific management on steroids. There is no longer a single right way to perform a task and multiple models can be tried and evaluated.
2. Globalization – Trade, monetary standards and cultural forces have impact on even non-global entities. Assimilation is necessary for growth.
3. Communication – Ideas can be transmitted almost instantaneously, made available to masses of thinkers, and the turnaround time for feedback has been shortened. Intervals between “next steps” will continue to be shortened.  
4. Collaboration – Many activities have left the private invention sphere and now belong to everyone. Privacy is shared less selectively than ever before.
5. Connective Thinking – Knowledge is being enhanced by multiple source revelation and opinion. The possibility of group error increases peer review and self correction.  
6. Motivation – Monetary rewards are becoming less significant than personal rewards that satisfy a higher need.

Taylor said, “In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first… The first object of any good system must be that of developing first class men.” Would he change his mind if he had an accurate image of today? We seem to have moved from emphasis on the worker to emphasis on the system and back to reemphasizing the importance of the worker. Is this a pendulum swing to an extreme or toward a more normalizing position? Perhaps it is a matter of perspective. Emphasis has really moved away from self-centered individual needs to a corporate awareness of individual needs.   

The most consistent new trend is a more likely acceptance of change. There will be challenges to progress as there always has been, but the rewards will go to the innovators.

Image credit: Picture of Frederick Winslow Taylor from Men of the United States, Tuck School of Business faculty via Wikipedia; this image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.