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Card #c1121IR // #c1121Synthesis

"…when pig iron is being handled (each pig weighing 92 pounds), a first-class workman can only be under load 43 per cent of the day. He must be entirely free from load during 57 per cent of the day."

— In our words · Source: The Principles of Scientific Management (Frederick Winslow Taylor)

[Use when]

People are grinding without breaks on heavy work and output is falling.

[Why it matters]

Carl Barth plotted the data and found that how heavy the load was set how much of the day a man could be under it. Scheduled rest was what made the higher daily tonnage possible.

Filed under situations:When you’re building the thing, not just planning it

More from The Principles of Scientific Management

#c1113"The greater part of the systematic soldiering, however, is done by the men with the deliberate object of keeping their employers ignorant…Your team's estimates never get shorter no matter how familiar the work becomes. #c1114"…after a workman has had the price per piece of the work he is doing lowered two or three times as a result of his having worked harder…You are tempted to raise a quota because someone beat it. #c1115"…since they were paid by the hour, the faster they went the less money they got, and finally telling him that if he went too fast the…You are setting up pay for work where you can't easily see the pace.

Same situation, different book

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