Fredrick Winslow Taylor begins by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said, “The conversation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger question of national efficiency.” Taylor conceded that natural resources were indeed important and should be valued; but the resources would be best used if more effort were put into training men with the result of making production and manufacturing of these resources more efficient.
Taylor argued that the country needed to be more efficient in almost all of the everyday tasks.
I agree with his sentiment of training men to do the work instead of what he called trying to find the “extraordinary man.” With the proper training and tools, most people can be taught to do extraordinay things.
I also agree with Taylor’s sentiment on management being a true science. Most managers can give orders. However, it takes a true leader/manager to extract the most out of a person’s abilities by knowing the worker’s strengths and weaknesses. The use of these strengths and weaknesses along with clear rules and principles – whether in a factory office or a factory production area – can create a more efficient environment.
The notion that management is a science stood out as being a bit more odd than it did to most people who posted this week. I don’t really see managing as being as much of a science. Yes, there are certain elements that can make managers better at their job, and certain techniques they can employ to ensure they are better at their jobs. Each worker under managers will work differently and respond differently to different managing styles, as well as different managers being suited better or worse to different managing styles. With the vast variety in types of successful managing styles that work in the real world, to compare it to a hard science does not make much sense.