Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1123IR // #c1123Synthesis

"…yellow paper showed the man that he had failed to do his full task the day before…" "…whenever the men received white slips they knew that everything was all right, and whenever they received yellow slips they realized that they must do better…"

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

[Use when]

People find out how they're doing only at an annual review.

[Why it matters]

Each morning every laborer got yesterday's result on a colored slip. Many couldn't read, and the color carried the message anyway. Daily, individual feedback replaced a foreman's general impression.

Filed under situations:When the team is looking to you to lead

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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