BENEFITS OF ELIMINATING "DECISION OF CHOICE."--There is always
time lost by "decision of choice." The elimination of this is well
illustrated by the bricks that are piled on the packet, which
decides for the bricklayer which brick is next, making an obvious
sequence, hence the saving of time of decision regarding motions,
also the saving coming from the play for position. Oftentimes a
handicap of slow mental action can be compensated for, in a measure,
by planning ahead in great detail. In this way, if the plan is made
sufficiently in detail, there is absolutely no time possible left to
be wasted in "decision of choice." The worker goes from one step to
another, and as these steps are arranged logically, his mind does
not tend to wander away, but to keep on in an uninterrupted sequence
to the goal.
STANDARD EQUIPMENT IMPORTANT.--As for equipment, the phenomena
of habit are among the most important features of the psychology of
management and the possibilities of the elimination of unnecessary
waste resulting from taking advantage of this feature is possible
only when the equipment, surroundings and methods of the worker are
standardized. Therefore the insistence upon standardization, even
down to the smallest things, is vital for achieving the greatest
output.
For example,--suppose the keys of the monotype machine, piano or
typewriter were not located permanently in the same relative
position. Consider the loss of time in not being able to use habits
in finding each key. Such an arrangement sounds ridiculous on the
face of it, yet it is a common practice for many operators,
especially of monotype machines, to make a complete mental decision
as to the muscles and fingers with which they will strike the
desired key.
Imagine the records of output of a typist who was using a
different keyboard every day, if there were that many kinds of
keyboards. It is easy for anyone to conceive the great advantages of
standard keyboards for such machines, but only those who have made a
study of output of all kinds of workers can fully realize that
similar differences in sizes of output are being produced by the
workers of the country for lack of similar standardization of
working conditions and equipment.
UTMOST STANDARDIZATION DOES NOT MAKE "MACHINES" OF THE WORKERS
OPERATING UNDER IT.--The attention of those who believe that
standardization makes machines out of the workers themselves, is
called to the absence of such effect upon the typist as compared
with the scribe, the monotype and linotype operator as compared with
the compositor, and the mechanical computing machine operator as
compared with the arithmetician.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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