Industrial Progress and Human Economics Part 5

This example applies to more than the inventors' world. It has many parallels in the cold business management of a manufactory and in any one of its departments. Business management requires the same kind of reasoning and getting away from the spell of environment. But this phase we shall consider later under another head.

The point to be brought out here is the effect of the spell of environment in magnifying the importance of existing views and methods, and the deceptive part this trusty brain plays in binding us to unnecessarily hard work.

Cure for Mind Wandering.

The mind should not be allowed to wander, for wander it will if it is not rationally directed. It should be furnished with some interest, either in the form of study that is taken up out of working hours, and which can be permitted to occupy the mind while work of the habit kind is being done, or, if it is not a study, there should be some wholesome interest or pleasure.

Music to some furnishes this need. Music heard in the home or elsewhere will sometimes occupy the mind during working hours when the work is of a monotonous character. In some instances music has been provided during a certain part of the day, just for this need of workers who are employed in an occupation that in itself furnishes no mental nourishment.

But these extreme cases do not represent the vast majority. They apply only to the needs of the mind of those engaged in a work in which they can awaken no interest. Nearly all kinds of work offer a chance for the average man to get interested directly in the work itself. Such an interest soon bears fruit in the results as well as in the comfort of the worker, and it is this phase on which we must depend for making specialization comfortable and profitable to the worker. It is this phase that is wholly overlooked by those mentioned above who have seen or felt the joy of work that comes to one who rambles into a new field. We fail to see that the same kind of mental pleasure may be obtained while working along the natural and efficient lines of habit, and that in one case we have had pleasure at great expense of wasted energy, and in the other case we may have made a true progress for ourselves and others by moving along the rational way.

The Manager's View.

The important duty of weighing up these various views devolves on the management, and its action should be in accordance with the complete and corrected view. It must consider the subject from a top viewpoint, and must then act.

The manager keeps in mind that the machines must be built, purchased, and used by human beings, so he carefully studies their peculiarities. He knows that change of thought or habit requires time.

In looking over the history of one of the companies engaged in machine building, we find that the cost of the labor has been lowered to about one-fifth of the original. In view of this and the fact that a very slight change in model sometimes involves a temporary increase in the cost of labor three-fold or more, we see good reason for reluctance in making changes, even though we know that two or three years later the labor cost may drop as low as that previous to the change in model.

The inventor, the promoter, the salesman, and the oversanguine manager do not always foresee such things.

The manager sees the enthusiasm with which the selling organization hails the new model. He realizes that they know the faults of the previous type, and he also knows that no one knows the faults of the new, but he lets it go. Some enthusiasm must be had, even if it be dearly purchased. He knows there will be many a troublesome delay due to the newness, even if the whole scheme proves very much better than the previous type.

This manager knows that his business success rests on the facility with which the machines are satisfactorily built, the readiness of the buyers, and, last but not least, the facility with which the product is used. The facility with which the product will be used, to his mind, is almost beyond overestimation.

Sub-division of Work.

The division of work into separate operations makes it possible to divide the subject into relatively small sub-problems. This division of the subject itself brings it within the capacity of the lesser brains and makes it very much easier for a brain of greater power. In other words, the subdivision of work makes places in which all mental equipments may be used.

It is of no benefit to any one to keep the problems difficult by making each man think out a process for accomplishing each one of a great variety of operations, when the work may be so divided that it is only necessary for him to think of just one little part of the whole. And we should not befog the issue by saying that this is degrading.

Some of the greatest scientists that the world has known have concentrated attention to the smallest conceivable part of this world, pieces so small that the microscope alone revealed them to the eye. There is a chance for the thinker in most any of these places that have grown out of this process of finest subdivision of work. The hardship comes only when the mind cannot get interested in the work. In many cases this is undoubtedly due to a misfit, but in most cases it seems to be due to a false notion that there is nothing there of interest.

The subdivision of work must go on. If hindered in any one plant, industry or nation more than in others, the result will be a loss to that one, and on the other hand, the one that carries it to the most efficient point will become the most powerful.

This subdivision develops greatest dexterity and skill, as well as the keenest comprehension of the ways and means of attaining a given end. And this dexterity of operation is more easily carried on than is the fumbling uncertainty of the work of the more primitive type.

Care in Applying New Theories.

The manual worker's energies are so absorbed in the physical tasks that he is annoyed by any suggestion to change his method. If he were given the position at a desk he would probably be interested in the progressive schemes for betterment of methods of work or management of business.

Bearing this state of affairs in mind, it behooves the progressive man to approach the problem of applying his theories in a very careful manner. He must realize that the men in various parts of the work are under stress of every day's requirements that makes it very difficult to intelligently take up any new scheme of procedure. Many an ideal doctrine is a beautiful thing in theory but of little value if its introduction requires an immense but unavailable energy to put it into practise.

He must realize that it is the doing of work that counts and that the men who are doing things must not be annoyed. All plans for betterment must conform to the a.s.similating power of the men and must not cut off their food in time of change. In other words, the new plans should be so matched on to the old methods that the change to the new will not interrupt the production.

We have seen that the most efficient way to use man's energies is to allow him to follow habit lines of thought and action, and that the highest efficiency is reached when these habits are habits of concentration of attention and are restricted to the smallest variety of work.

Progressive Energy.

Progressive energy is so valuable that it needs no praise at this time. We have had its value stated so often that it is actually over-rated in the average mind. Not that it has been over-valued, but that the reiteration has obscured the importance of other qualities. There should be a greater appreciation of the value of energies that are wholly employed in accomplishing results by old means and methods.

Progressive energy, when it is kept within certain bounds, is a prime a.s.set of an industrial organization. It is like a wholesome amount of labor to man; it may be drawn upon without loss, and its use actually strengthens its source. But when it is not wisely kept in control it only annoys and interferes with real progress and real accomplishment of results.

The only way to get work done is to let the worker move along habit lines. The only way to progress efficiently is to make the new ways and means lead off gradually from those in use.

The progressive man who actually directs work along such lines is the most valuable to the world. The one who ignores the "moment of inertia" is a disturber, whether he is a director or a "hewer of wood and carrier of water".

The man who is doing the real work in the world is not the so-called progressive. He is one who points out newer or better methods which may be easily established by a gradual exchange of old habits for new ones.

Profit by Experience.

In considering ways and means for efficient management of industrial organizations, it is not necessary to commence at the beginning of each plant. The method of dealing with the problems of existing plants is also applicable to new organizations, for a new organization is only new in a limited sense. It uses men of experience. It uses existing machines and implements. It follows existing methods of conducting business and in the general management of its affairs.

Even the so-called new method which may be the center around which the so-called new business is built contains very little that is new. The newest things in the ordinary industrial world contain many old and well-known elements. The very use of a so-called new method or machine as a center around which to build an organization is in itself so old that it is a confirmed habit with us to be lured on to investing in such things by the statement that some new process or means is to be employed.

A really new thing that calls for wholly new ways and new means for manufacture is almost inconceivable. The nearer we approach to newness in the industrial world the thinner becomes the ice on which we are moving. Therefore, let us know that when we advise following habit lines in all moves in management of an existing organization we imply that the same course should be taken in establishing a new company or organization.

In both cases we should employ existing ways and means, experienced men and well-tried implements. Both old and new should be conducted along the usual line in conformity with the state of the art, the habits of the workers, and other conditions indigenous to the locality. Any scheme of going contrary to the existing customs and usage must be entered into with full knowledge of the great need of patience, force and courage to offset the barrier of inertia.

Dissipation of Energies.

This tendency to dissipate energies by wandering into other fields is not confined to the worker; it is a most common tendency of business men. A manager of an industrial establishment has to continually combat his tendency to divert the energies of the organization along new lines. He knows from past experience how dearly bought is each new method that is introduced into his organization. He knows for example that it would make all of his men tardy at the plant in the morning if at the hour of arising he has issued a request for each man to dress by carefully thinking out each move. He knows that the day's work would never be well done if he asked each one to think before acting.

Even conversation comes under the law of habit. It must follow the line that has been carefully thought out.

We all know that when a man talks on subjects with which he is not familiar his words carry little weight.

The so-called spontaneous utterances that seem so full of life and are apparently the product of flashed thought are either the welling up of some subconscious ideas quickly reconstructed to fit the situation or they are a haphazard jumble either meaningless or conveying an unintended impression. They are generally in the humorous line and frequently make an impression that was not antic.i.p.ated by the utterer.

The really useful talk and work is the result of wholesome habit of thought and action.

Tying up Capital in Stock in Process of Construction.