"In the past man has been first. In the future the System will be first, " predicted Frederick Winslow Taylor, the first efficiency expert and model for all the stopwatch-clicking engineers who stalk the factories and offices of the industrial world. In 1874, eighteen-year-old Taylor abandoned his wealthy family's plans for him to attend Harvard, and instead went to work as a lowly apprentice in a Philadelphia machine shop, shuttling between the manicured hedges of his family's home and the hot, cussing, dirty world of the ...
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"In the past man has been first. In the future the System will be first, " predicted Frederick Winslow Taylor, the first efficiency expert and model for all the stopwatch-clicking engineers who stalk the factories and offices of the industrial world. In 1874, eighteen-year-old Taylor abandoned his wealthy family's plans for him to attend Harvard, and instead went to work as a lowly apprentice in a Philadelphia machine shop, shuttling between the manicured hedges of his family's home and the hot, cussing, dirty world of the shop floor. As he rose through the ranks of management, he began the time-and-motion studies for which he would become famous, and forged his industrial philosophy, Scientific Management. To organized labor, Taylor was a slave-driver. To the bosses, he was an eccentric who raised wages while ruling the factory floor with a stopwatch. To himself, he was a misunderstood visionary who, under the banner of Science, would confer prosperity on all and abolish the old class hatreds. To millions today who feel they give up too much to their jobs, Taylor is the source of that fierce, unholy obsession with "efficiency" that marks modern life. The assembly line; the layout of our kitchens; the ways our libraries, fastfood restaurants, and even our churches are organized all owe much to this driven man, who broke every job into its parts, sliced and trimmed and timed them, and remolded what was left into the work of the twentieth century.
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This is a very well-written, engaging and comprehensively-researched biography of Taylor - and beyond a good introduction to scientific management in general and its universal legacy through the pervasive cult of efficiency which subliminally defines, to a large extent, our age. Something that Kanigel explains very well.
It has the great merit to be on the whole fairly balanced, leaving the reader ample space to make his/her own opinion on this important yet controversial figure. It also suggests several further reading avenues, including on education, Soviet economics, and management scholarship.
It is, however, regrettable that Kanigel does not deal more explicitly with the very serious and convincingly documented accusations made by the Taylor scholar Wrege (the other biographer of reference) regarding Taylor's outright falsifications and blatant lies and manipulations throughout his career - including use of personal connections and direct ownership of companies in order to secure the conduct of ethically and economically-flawed human experiments for self-publicity purposes.
Although Kanigel repeatedly touches on these disturbing aspects of Taylor's life and ideas - and insightfully highlights the myriad contradictions, prejudices, flaws and showman/tyrannical nature of Taylor, as well as the complete lack of real scientific basis of scientific management - this biography would have gained from some dialogue with Wrege's work. Wrege's contribution is acknowledged in the bibliographical section, with mention of certain differences of views but without explaining their exact nature. If Taylor's ideas have defined our modern times, but if these ideas have, as it seems, absolutely no valid empirical foundations, don't we have then a serious problem?
In combination with Wrege's 'Frederick W. Taylor, the Father of Scientific Management: Myth and Reality', Kanigel's work remains an excellent biography and good starting point for all those interested in and wish to revisit - or critically reassess - Taylor, scientific management, taylorism, and overall the efficiency principle on which personal power strategies and legitimising discourses are often built.
Is efficiency really efficient? In the light of Taylor's life, peculiar methods and unconvincing results, one might wonder if the efficiency principle should continue to be taken for granted.
Raphael V
Oct 4, 2012
Must read if interested in Taylor
Appears to be well researched. Uses direct quotes from Taylor and his colleagues. Somewhat opinionated in areas, but none of the opinions seem unsupported. Does not fully integrate what he reports - but the data is there for you to do so. Provides a great insight into aspects of Taylor not present elsewhere - as far I know. Also, a great insight into the machinations of the Gilded Age.
