No man can develop into an expert without
great exertion of the will. Such exertions of
the will are recognized by authorities as being
very exhaustive and unstable. One of the
greatest of the authorities and one who in
<p 250>
particular has emphasized the necessity of
a ``do-or-die'' attitude of work concludes his
discussion with the following significant admission:
``All this suggests that if one wants
to improve at the most rapid rate, he must
work when he can feel good and succeed, then
lounge and wait until it is again profitable to
work. It is when all the conditions are favorable
that the forward steps or new adaptations
are made.''
Voluntary attention must be employed in
making the advance step, in improving our
method of work, and in making any sort of
helpful changes. But voluntary attention
must not be depended upon to secure steady
and continuous utilization of the improved
method or rate of work. To secure this end,
an attempt should be made to reduce the
work to habit so far as possible and also to secure
spontaneous interest either from interest
and pleasure in the work itself or because of
the reward to be received.
The case of the young sales manager, described
in the first part of this article, suggests
<p 251>
some of the methods by which this interest
can be secured. The chief factor in his progress
was the interest in the work itself due to
the novelty of his successive tasks--an element
impossible to introduce into the average
man's job. Yet there were other and powerful
motives stimulating his interest: the responsibility
of organizing a big department and of
directing the expenditure of large sums of
money; the prompt credit given him and the
growing confidence extended to him; and the
expression of their appreciation in the concrete
shape of salary increases.
It is quite true that these various stimulating
factors cannot be produced indefinitely;
tasks must ``stale,'' praise grow monotonous,
salaries touch their top level. But ``making
good'' and finding interests in work crystallize
into habits which endure as long as conditions
remain fair. The rise of the efficiency curve
thus depends upon recurrent periods of successful
struggle followed by periods of habit
formation and by the development of powerful
spontaneous interests.
<p 252>
Voluntary interest is a valuable thing to
possess, but a difficult thing to secure either
within ourselves or in those under our charge.
In its psychological aspect, scientific
management enters here. By working out and
establishing a standard method and standard
time for various ``repeat'' operations a workman
is engaged in, it encourages--and even
enforces--the formation of new efficiency
habits. The bonus paid for the accomplishment
of the task in the specified time supplies
an immediate and powerful motive to the effort
necessary to master the ``right way'' of doing
things.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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