Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1122IR // #c1122Synthesis

"…it was found that a first-class man would do his biggest day's work with a shovel load of about 21 pounds." "…he would frequently go from shoveling ore, with a load of about 30 pounds per shovel, to handling rice coal, with a load on the same shovel of less than 4 pounds."

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

[Use when]

Everyone uses the same tool for every job because that's the tool they own.

[Why it matters]

One shovel per man meant he was overloaded on ore and nearly idle on coal. Bethlehem stocked 8 to 10 shovel types so every material came out near the same optimal load.

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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