Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1125IR // #c1125Synthesis

"…when men work in gangs, their individual efficiency falls almost invariably down to or below the level of the worst man in the gang…" "…not more than four men were to be allowed to work in a labor gang without a special permit, signed by the General Superintendent…"

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

[Use when]

Output from a team effort is lower than its members manage alone.

[Why it matters]

Bethlehem made big gangs a paperwork burden. The superintendent ran 5000 men and had little time to sign permits, so work got split into individual tasks with individual pay.

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

#c1558The Seminal Fire: Active Logos, Passive Matter & Cosmic ConflagrationScaling a creative franchise, open-source project, or decentralized team where you cannot micromanage every…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1543The Upward and Downward Road of FireUse when a leader or team tries to eliminate all internal conflict between competing departments (e.g., risk…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1517The Daemonic Mean and the Art of the Severe LoverRecruiting and forging high-potential proteges who are immune to cheap praise, or writing a mentor-student…From Handbook of Platonism #c1506Elemental Daimones, Star-Vehicles, and Invisible BoltsUse when deciding what a founder or CEO should personally sign versus delegate, or when winding down a legacy…From Handbook of Platonism