Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1917-04-11
GAVE LECTURE ON
FEAR OF EFFICIENCY


large and appreciative audience
lecture on The Fear of Efficiency given
by Miss Ida M. TarbeIl Tuesday even
ing in Slater Hall. Miss TarbelI proved
most interesting speaker, holding
me audience from the first word of
her lecture Concise and witty, she
was a very interesting exponent of
the theory she advanced.
one of the most frequent causes of
Misunderstanding among people is be-
cause of the difference IN meaning con-
veyed to each of us by words, said
Miss Tarbell. No one who speaks in
public or does any writing but meets
much misunderstood. Doing a thing
in a clean. competent way with the
least possible waste is doing it eff
GENTLY. Nowadays efficiency is want
governments We have had no pro-
gram for efficiency. The only place
where a real trial has been given it
Is in industrial life. In that a science
of efficiency has sometimes been work
ed out. usually by one man.
Such plan was worked on by one
man with great and marked success.
Fred Winslow Taylor, civil engineer, a
man of broad education and training,
and widely known. in Europe as well
as in this country, became interested
in the process of production. When
he went into a factory to begin his
work as young man, he at once per-
ceived that the plant had not the tom
mage it should have and that the
workmen were doing only half the
work of which they were capable. He
Immediately began to experiment. He
found the men would not speed up.
When he searched for the reason he
found that as the men increased their
rate of production the price per piece
went down. He laid down as a law
that pay for piecewOrk once establish
ed should never change and inmedi-
ately the rate of production went up.
He always played fair.
Then he studied other things. He
saw that as industry was managed
then men were hampered. There was
no system. In the morning work was
not ready-the men might be turned
off for a day or So 1t was diSorderly.
Tools were not ready. nor were they
supplies. When work is regularly
planned and tools and supplies ready
there is more time for production.
Next he studied the machines. How
to develop them.
Then the workmen themselves. Were
they doing their work in the best pos
sible way?
He worked out law to be applied
to heavy. unskilled labor. Unskilled
labor is a despised work but much of
Hfe's comfort is dependant upon it
and many are necessarily employed
in it. Turning people to study the
whole existence for many of them.
This science has been applied with
most astonishing results. Compare
the new with the old way and it is
startling the difference in product help
and pay. Places formerly horrible
have become decent and filled with
striving, happy people.
The principles are practically uni
versa1. In spite Of this there exists
the fear of the science Of management.
This fear has even caused bills to be
passed forbidding this scientific man
agement in arsenals and navy yards.
There is group Of reasons for this
fear. The first is ignorance of just
what Is it. Organized labor has fought
1t bitterly. The public is ignorant
also.
feel for a new thing that will revo-
lutionize our methods. the instructive
dislike of change. This applies par
ticularly to woman's work and place
in industry. We take pride even in
In all this where there is radical
change in attitude of mind it IS go
ing to interfere with graft. That has
many of US. tt is hard to admit a
system that Is going to cut; out our
perquisftes.
Then it is slow process and Amer
lack the patience to work things out.
You can't bring factory up to scfen-
tif1c management in less than five
years and we don't like that.
We don't like discipline. We seem
to think discipline is suppression
while really 1t is freedom There are
vast numbers of young people grow
ing up totally undisciplined in the
real sense Of the word. Efficiency is
a disciplinary system. Then 1t is
continuously hard thing. It never
gets to be automatic, never easy. We
never get onto easy street Great re-
suits require effort. All life Is a
new and vital thing to people who put
forth effort.
These reasons are a criticism Of our
people and not of the science Of man
agement.
Not the least serious reason, how
ever. comes of our misunderstanding
of what the thing Is in spirit. The
fear that it is the power of autocracy
in the hands of over-1ords.
Germany stands as the greatest ex-