The Washington herald., 1912-06-30
Learn Your Relation to Tools
to Make the Most of Yourself.
By c. S. MADDOCKS.

successful man becomes president. he selects
his stan, his cabinet. and-he puts Il up to
them Each In turn selects his star Of
managers and-puts It up to them. The
manager selects his superintendents, and
passes the power and responsibility on 10
them. The superintendent selects foremen
and delegates to them the power to make
good The foremen select their workmsn
and transmit TO them the power to do the
thing the president really wanted done. The
man at the bottom, with the least spare time
to plan, the least training, the least compen-
sation, runs the whole affair. This is the
type-so usual. so universal. that many viii
show amusement Shat It is questioned"
Mr.. Emerson. efficiency engineer would
for efbciency's sake, reverse this order. build
ing up from the bottom instead Of dictat-
ing from the top. He would have his or
ganization an inverted pyramid, the head
man supporting itell. nke veritable Atlas.
instead Of being supported. Having re-
verBed the relation Of the worker to his tools
we must Of necessity reverse the relation
Of ohicer to private, Of ofncial to employe;
we must reverse the administrative cycle
The employe no longer exists merely to
sggrsndtzs and extend the personality Of the
employer, but the latter exdstsSolely TO make
GuGCAANo kuG OL NQb
employ& The laws are applied by oficials,
each Of whom is servant to the men over
whom he has directing control
Have we not here a strictly modern in
depreciation Of the scrIptural doctrine, who
soever Will be great among you let him be
your servant7 The first. or chief, shall be
minister 60 all, by reason Of his very right
to be chief, his greater knowledge OF every
thing. The man OF the greatest power must
feel the greatest responsibility. He may dele
gate work, but he cannot shift responsibility
on to some other mans shoulders.
II the IDEAL for an organization should be
universally promulgated. posted everywhere,
leaving no man to work vaguely uncertainty
or aimlessly, but each feeling himself and
his work an essential part OF the whole, Mr..
Emerson believes that Industrial organiLa-
tons could attain the same high degree Of
individual and aggregate excellence as q
baseball league" But his fRvorite example
Of efficiency is the locomotive and its man
agement " There can be no legitimate con-
iict between rails and locomotive. between
locomotive and its engineer and fireman, no
legitimate conflict between engineer and dis
patcher, no conflict between dispatcher and
tine table. although the time table defines
to q second the running time OF q train
going at extremeSt speed for q thousand
miles or more"
Efficiency in Dispatching.
The seventh principle Of efficiency OF Mr.
Emerson's Is this one Of dispatchLng. He
says: Railroad dispatchlng ss to passenger
trains Is Of a very htgh order Of excel
lence; as to freight forwarding It is gradually
emerging fnom the dark ages, perishable
freight going forward almost with passenger
regularity; wrecks, slides. snow are taken
care Of with a dispatch OF the highest order
o. excellence; railroads are even built on
schedule time; but considering the expendi-
tures that are not dispatched, and those that
are ineficIently dispatched, the general dis
patching efficiency. even Of railroads, is not
over 20 per cent. yet there are few activities
that DO as well as railroads"
We are in the infant stage as TO our
realization OF thegreat wastes that have been
an6 are going on IN the world. There is COM
ing to be feeling that the most serious and
disheartening waste OF all Is that Of men Of
their time, their talents, their very life.
When their CONDITION Is Of the very lowest
we speak Of Il as aladtustment meaning q
situation over which the sufferers have no
control. But higher up the same word ap-
plies, FOR a man may get but third or q
half from his effort that he should because
he maladtrsts himself. His is the fault in
this case. He bIindly or wiIlfuIly does not ft
himself to the tool he serves.
This is a more serious matter than for
marIy. because today things move with such
speed II q man makes the very best use Of
his time he has all he can do to keep UP; II
he wlllfully waste 1t, though he seems to be
injuring another and may be. he is the great
loser. Such mIschiefs are Ike young chick
ems, they will come home to roost.
The smooth track has to be put under the
fastly moving railroad train. A crooked ran
has no place there. In the early days Of the
locomotive various animals and even some
poor Indians tried odds with It. when It was
their part and for their best interest IN this
situation to stand aside or attend 70 some
thing else.
If a mans temper units him for assisting IN
making a great tool efficient he ought at
least to know enough to keep out Of its way.
His Interference or attempt to gain some
thing for himself while he thvarts its use
fulhess, cannot be in the end: successful If
he insists on remaining IN the organisation
and he can ind associates Of like mind.
their lack OF accommodation may work q
good deal Of mischief. but not once In q
hundred times viii they make any real Per
sonsl gain. although the satisfaction Of be-
ing perverse is undoubtedly equal to fat
terry to some men.
No man who prevents any other or any
working instrument from doing his and its
best work has any right to the respect Of
men OF probity. A man who willfully lessons
q product Of a factory or organization by
either openly or erhanh5edIyt thwartfnE ef-
fort-of machine or mans doing despIcable
thing. And he is preparing a boomerang
that will surely come home. Individual or
ganiEation or society may also suffer, but In
the long run he Is the sorriest loser.
n 49,