The Psychology of Management by Lillian Moller Gilbreth

record and programme, known to, or made by, both manager and man. ELIMINATION OF WASTE POSSIBLE.--The third table--that of the man working for another man--attempts to do no more than indicate the first and last step of a long series, beginning with the man, one of a gang, an unconscious record, and an unconscious programme, on the part of both the manager and the man, down to the final stage of individual output, with the written record and programme known to both manager and man. It would be a most interesting problem to work out the various steps stretching between these two, and the various ways in which progression might be made through these steps, either taking one step after another slowly or making the various possible jumps long and short. A psychological discussion of each step would be of value, and certainly must in time be made, but this book has not the scope, nor can the time be devoted to such a discussion. If this third chart had no other purpose, it would be useful to suggest to the student the wide tracts which still remain for study and development. It must not be thought that any of the steps omitted on this chart are not in existence. Every single possible combination of record and programme is in existence to-day, and must be studied by the manager of men. Not until these are all discovered, described, and standardized, the progression noted, and standard progressions outlined, can methods of least waste be adopted. With a more thorough experimental study of the mind will come a possible prediction as to which stages the various types of mind must pass through. So, too, with the training of the young mind in the primary schools and in the methods of Scientific Management, will come the elimination of many stages now necessary, and the possibility, even, that the final stage may be introduced at the outset, and the enormous waste of time, energy and wearing of unnecessary brain paths be absolutely abolished. THE PROGRAMME DERIVED FROM THE RECORD.--Having considered the various records and programmes and their relation, we will now consider the four stages of the record,--(1) unconscious, (2) conscious, (3) written, (4) standardized, and trace the derivation of the programme from each stage. TABLE IV ============================================================ I. Record unconscious. Programme cannot be definite. Method is indefinite. ============================================================ II. Record conscious. Programme becomes more definite. Method becomes more definite. ============================================================ III. Record written. Programme yet more definite. Method definite. ============================================================ IV. Record standardized. Programme standardized, i.e., Results predictable. Methods standard. ============================================================ UNCONSCIOUS RECORDS MEAN INDEFINITE PROGRAMMES.--First, then, suppose that the records are unconscious. What does this imply? It implies in the first place that the worker has no idea of his capacity; never having thought of what he has done, he has no idea what can be done, neither has he a comparative idea of methods, that is, of how to do it. It is impossible for a definite programme to be laid out by such a worker,--that is to say, no predictions by him as to the time of completing the work are possible. Neither could a method be derived by him from his previous work. Note here the alarming amount of waste. All good methods which the worker may possibly have acquired are practically lost to the world, and perhaps also to him. Not only this, but all bad methods which he has fallen into will be fallen into again and again, as there are no warning signs to keep him out of them. As there is no possibility of an accurate chronological chart, the worker may undertake more than he can do, thus delaying work which should have been done by others. On the other hand, he may underestimate his capacity, and be left idle because work he should have done has been assigned to others. Either of these leads to a sense of insecurity, to wavering attention, to "hit or miss" guess work, "rule-of-thumb methods," which are the signs of Traditional Management. WITH CONSCIOUS AND WRITTEN RECORDS COME DEFINITE PROGRAMMES.--We turn now to the case where the record is conscious,--that is, where the worker keeps in mind exactly what he has done. With this conscious record the idea of capacity develops. The man realizes what he can do. So also, the idea of method develops, and the man realizes how he can do the work. Third, there comes gradually an idea of a margin; that is, of a possible way by which capacity can be increased for a higher speed, or methods can be slightly varied to meet any particular deviation in the work to be done. From this ability to estimate capacity, and to plan the method ahead, comes the ability to lay out a more definite programme. When the record becomes written the exactness of the programme increases. Methods also become written, and, though accurate prediction is not possible, such prediction is more and more nearly approached. This increasing accuracy is the work of Transitory System in all its stages. STANDARD RECORDS PERMIT OF STANDARD PROGRAMMES.--In the last case, the record is standardized, that is, the result of the method of processes of analysis and synthesis. Through this process, as has been shown, the reason for success is discovered and rendered usable. The programme becomes standard, results can be predicted accurately, and methods by which these results can be best obtained are also standard. It may at first escape notice that these standardized records, of the ultimate or scientific management type, imply _not_ a greater rigidity, but a greater elasticity. This because of the nature of the elements of the records, which may, in time, be combined into a great number of different, predictable programmes. SUMMARY RESULTS OF RELATIONS BETWEEN RECORDS AND PROGRAMMES ON THE WORK.--The most noteworthy result of the closer relations between records and programmes which appear during the evolution of Scientific Management is the fact that they cause constant simplification. The more carefully records are standardized, the simpler becomes the drafting of the programme. As more and more records become standard, the drafting of programmes becomes constantly an easier and cheaper process. PROGRAMMES BECOME RECORDS.--Under Traditional Management the record that follows a programme may appear very different from the programme. Under Scientific Management the record that follows a programme most closely resembles the programme. Improvements are not made between the programme and the following record,--they find their place between the record and the following programme. Thus programmes and records may be grouped in pairs, by similarity, with a likelihood of difference between any one pair (one programme plus one record) and other pairs. RESULT ON THE WORKER.--The greatest effect, on the worker, of these relations of record to programme under Scientific Management is the confidence that he gains in the judgment that is an outcome of Scientific Management. When the worker sees that Scientific Management makes possible accurate predictions of times, schedules, tasks, and performance; that the methods prescribed invariably enable him to achieve prescribed results, his confidence in Scientific Management grows. So also does the manager's confidence in Scientific Management grow,--and in this mutual confidence in the system of management is another bond of sympathy. The place left for suggestions and improvements, in the ever-present opportunities to better standards, fulfills that longing for a greater efficiency that is the cause of progress.