What Makes Great Leaders Great: Management Lessons from Icons Who Changed the World

CHAPTER 8

Be Productive

LEARNING FROM

Frederick Winslow Taylor

There was a time when the findings and conclusions of the “father of scientific management” Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) were hotly debated in countries throughout the industrialized world. Taylor set out his views in a book published in 1911 titled The Principles of Scientific Management. Those views not only helped to shape mass production, but also for a long time they exerted extensive influence over the organization of labor in the twentieth century. Taylor’s main concern was always how to boost labor productivity. By using time-and-motion studies, he ascertained the most ...