Care in Applying New Theories.

The manual worker's energies are so absorbed in the physical tasks
that he is annoyed by any suggestion to change his method. If he
were given the position at a desk he would probably be interested
in the progressive schemes for betterment of methods of work or
management of business.
Bearing this state of affairs in mind, it behooves the progressive
man to approach the problem of applying his theories in a very
careful manner. He must realize that the men in various parts of
the work are under stress of every day's requirements that makes
it very difficult to intelligently take up any new scheme of
procedure. Many an ideal doctrine is a beautiful thing in theory
but of little value if its introduction requires an immense but
unavailable energy to put it into practise.
He must realize that it is the doing of work that counts and that
the men who are doing things must not be annoyed. All plans for
betterment must conform to the assimilating power of the men and
must not cut off their food in time of change. In other words, the
new plans should be so matched on to the old methods that the
change to the new will not interrupt the production.
We have seen that the most efficient way to use man's energies is
to allow him to follow habit lines of thought and action, and that
the highest efficiency is reached when these habits are habits of
concentration of attention and are restricted to the smallest
variety of work.
Progressive Energy.
Progressive energy is so valuable that it needs no praise at this
time. We have had its value stated so often that it is actually
over-rated in the average mind. Not that it has been over-valued,
but that the reiteration has obscured the importance of other
qualities. There should be a greater appreciation of the value of
energies that are wholly employed in accomplishing results by old
means and methods.
Progressive energy, when it is kept within certain bounds, is a
prime asset of an industrial organization. It is like a wholesome
amount of labor to man; it may be drawn upon without loss, and its
use actually strengthens its source. But when it is not wisely
kept in control it only annoys and interferes with real progress
and real accomplishment of results.
The only way to get work done is to let the worker move along
habit lines. The only way to progress efficiently is to make the
new ways and means lead off gradually from those in use.
The progressive man who actually directs work along such lines is
the most valuable to the world. The one who ignores the "moment of
inertia" is a disturber, whether he is a director or a "hewer of
wood and carrier of water".
The man who is doing the real work in the world is not the
so-called progressive. He is one who points out newer or better
methods which may be easily established by a gradual exchange of
old habits for new ones.
Profit by Experience.
In considering ways and means for efficient management of
industrial organizations, it is not necessary to commence at the
beginning of each plant. The method of dealing with the problems
of existing plants is also applicable to new organizations, for a
new organization is only new in a limited sense. It uses men of
experience. It uses existing machines and implements. It follows
existing methods of conducting business and in the general
management of its affairs.
Even the so-called new method which may be the center around which
the so-called new business is built contains very little that is
new. The newest things in the ordinary industrial world contain
many old and well-known elements. The very use of a so-called
new method or machine as a center around which to build an
organization is in itself so old that it is a confirmed habit with
us to be lured on to investing in such things by the statement
that some new process or means is to be employed.
A really new thing that calls for wholly new ways and new means
for manufacture is almost inconceivable. The nearer we approach to
newness in the industrial world the thinner becomes the ice on
which we are moving. Therefore, let us know that when we advise
following habit lines in all moves in management of an existing
organization we imply that the same course should be taken in
establishing a new company or organization.
In both cases we should employ existing ways and means,
experienced men and well-tried implements. Both old and new should
be conducted along the usual line in conformity with the state of
the art, the habits of the workers, and other conditions
indigenous to the locality. Any scheme of going contrary to the
existing customs and usage must be entered into with full
knowledge of the great need of patience, force and courage to
offset the barrier of inertia.

Cure for Mind Wandering.

The mind should not be allowed to wander, for wander it will if it
is not rationally directed. It should be furnished with some
interest, either in the form of study that is taken up out of
working hours, and which can be permitted to occupy the mind while
work of the habit kind is being done, or, if it is not a study,
there should be some wholesome interest or pleasure.
Music to some furnishes this need. Music heard in the home or
elsewhere will sometimes occupy the mind during working hours when
the work is of a monotonous character. In some instances music has
been provided during a certain part of the day, just for this need
of workers who are employed in an occupation that in itself
furnishes no mental nourishment.
But these extreme cases do not represent the vast majority. They
apply only to the needs of the mind of those engaged in a work in
which they can awaken no interest. Nearly all kinds of work offer
a chance for the average man to get interested directly in the
work itself. Such an interest soon bears fruit in the results as
well as in the comfort of the worker, and it is this phase on
which we must depend for making specialization comfortable and
profitable to the worker. It is this phase that is wholly
overlooked by those mentioned above who have seen or felt the joy
of work that comes to one who rambles into a new field. We fail to
see that the same kind of mental pleasure may be obtained while
working along the natural and efficient lines of habit, and that
in one case we have had pleasure at great expense of wasted
energy, and in the other case we may have made a true progress for
ourselves and others by moving along the rational way.
The Manager's View.
The important duty of weighing up these various views devolves on
the management, and its action should be in accordance with the
complete and corrected view. It must consider the subject from a
top viewpoint, and must then act.
The manager keeps in mind that the machines must be built,
purchased, and used by human beings, so he carefully studies their
peculiarities. He knows that change of thought or habit requires
time.
In looking over the history of one of the companies engaged in
machine building, we find that the cost of the labor has been
lowered to about one-fifth of the original. In view of this and
the fact that a very slight change in model sometimes involves a
temporary increase in the cost of labor three-fold or more, we see
good reason for reluctance in making changes, even though we know
that two or three years later the labor cost may drop as low as
that previous to the change in model.
The inventor, the promoter, the salesman, and the oversanguine
manager do not always foresee such things.
The manager sees the enthusiasm with which the selling
organization hails the new model. He realizes that they know the
faults of the previous type, and he also knows that no one knows
the faults of the new, but he lets it go. Some enthusiasm must be
had, even if it be dearly purchased. He knows there will be many a
troublesome delay due to the newness, even if the whole scheme
proves very much better than the previous type.
This manager knows that his business success rests on the facility
with which the machines are satisfactorily built, the readiness of
the buyers, and, last but not least, the facility with which the
product is used. The facility with which the product will be used,
to his mind, is almost beyond overestimation.
Sub-division of Work.
The division of work into separate operations makes it possible to
divide the subject into relatively small sub-problems. This
division of the subject itself brings it within the capacity of
the lesser brains and makes it very much easier for a brain of
greater power. In other words, the subdivision of work makes
places in which all mental equipments may be used.
It is of no benefit to any one to keep the problems difficult by
making each man think out a process for accomplishing each one of
a great variety of operations, when the work may be so divided
that it is only necessary for him to think of just one little part
of the whole. And we should not befog the issue by saying that
this is degrading.
Some of the greatest scientists that the world has known have
concentrated attention to the smallest conceivable part of this
world, pieces so small that the microscope alone revealed them to
the eye. There is a chance for the thinker in most any of these
places that have grown out of this process of finest subdivision
of work. The hardship comes only when the mind cannot get
interested in the work. In many cases this is undoubtedly due to a
misfit, but in most cases it seems to be due to a false notion
that there is nothing there of interest.
The subdivision of work must go on. If hindered in any one plant,
industry or nation more than in others, the result will be a loss
to that one, and on the other hand, the one that carries it to the
most efficient point will become the most powerful.
This subdivision develops greatest dexterity and skill, as well as
the keenest comprehension of the ways and means of attaining a
given end. And this dexterity of operation is more easily carried
on than is the fumbling uncertainty of the work of the more
primitive type.

Unimportant Details

We can neither regulate the complexity of our environment nor the
number of problems which we must settle within a given time.
But we can improve the conditions very much by avoiding
overconcentration on unimportant details. The brain's best time
and energy should be reserved for our own immediate problems; it
should not be hampered by details of others.
The various officers of an industrial organization should know the
ins and outs of the thinking machine on which they depend for
guidance. With such knowledge each brain will give the greatest
results, and without such knowledge the best brain may be
untrustworthy.
One of the important characteristics of the mind is its tendency
to lose sight of everything except the subject in mind. One danger
is dodged by jumping into another which we have not seen. Both
dangers were plainly in sight to any one who had not concentrated
on one of them.
In the regular every-day business life, we seem to have ample time
to consider each problem. But in reality our great length of time
is offset by a great number of elements to consider, and a more
profound effect of long continued teaching or molding of our
environment.
For years engineers have concentrated energies on the steam-engine
of the reciprocating type. The master-minds have made important
improvements in the design, and many have given up their entire
existence to the science of analyzing the effects of each
variation in conditions of working the steam.
Our textbooks, our teaching, our observation all concentrated our
attention on this type.
For some reason Gustav deLaval, followed by C.A. Parsons and
Nikola Tesla, broke away from this spell, and we have the steam
turbine engine. These individuals are endowed with master-minds,
but the task of producing the turbines was probably no greater
than the task of others in improving the reciprocating type.
In one case a great step has been taken. In the other, we have an
example of men of undoubted ability laboring hard for entire
lifetimes with relatively small gain.
This example applies to more than the inventors' world. It has
many parallels in the cold business management of a manufactory
and in any one of its departments. Business management requires
the same kind of reasoning and getting away from the spell of
environment. But this phase we shall consider later under another
head.
The point to be brought out here is the effect of the spell of
environment in magnifying the importance of existing views and
methods, and the deceptive part this trusty brain plays in binding
us to unnecessarily hard work.

Money not the Only Dividend.

The major policies of management that should be known to the
inventor are those which have been adopted to make the business
pay. Not necessarily to pay in dollars and cents today, but to pay
in every sense, and in the long run, in dollars and in other
things.
It cannot pay in dollars if the other things are missing. By other
things are meant good organization built on best conditions of
mind and body for each of the beings included in the organization.
On such things the stability of the organization depends.
No matter how much the manager of a business may wish to run it
for other things exclusively, or for dollars exclusively, he will
find that one is not attained without the other. He is forced to
run a business for the dollar if he wishes to make an ideal
organization for each member of the human family included in it.
And vice versa, he must work toward best conditions for all the
workers if he wishes to protect the capital invested by making a
stable and fairly long-lived organization.
This statement is inserted here to clear away doubts as to the
real value or necessity of "making a business pay," and to make it
clear that no thought is to be tolerated of any scheme of
management adverse to the real interest of the workers.
The men selected for each of the various positions should be men
who are fitted to fill these very positions. This does not mean
mere physical and mental fitness; it means each position should be
filled by one who wants it, one who knows he is "better off" in it
than in any other place he can find. Dissatisfied men are burdens.
It is better to have each position filled by a man who is barely
competent to fill it than to have it filled by a man who should
have a much better position.
Of course, this is the ideal, and all moves should be made in this
direction whenever it is possible. As a rule, it is easier to find
men on this basis than to find men who are bigger than the office.
This scheme leads to more promotions in the organization and has a
stimulating effect on all concerned.

Capacity for New Ideas.

The assimilating capacity of the industrial world is the real
gauge of the progress which should be indulged in. This capacity
to take in new ideas and to work by new methods is not the same in
all beings, and it is not the same in all organizations. There are
ways by which it may be measurably increased. New views are more
readily digestible if presented by enthusiastic advocates, as this
stimulates an interest. Any attempt to forcibly inject new ideas
only results in indigestion.
The assimilating capacity of an industrial organization can be
greatly increased by any scheme that awakens an interest. The
controlling policies should include advance in efficiency and
generally in the quality of work turned out, but this advance
should not involve a break in the output. It mould be based on a
knowledge of the whole business. In other words, it should not
only pay in the long run, but if possible it should pay from the
moment it goes into effect.
We have said that all changes should be of the digestible kind,
and the feeding process should not be a stuffing process; that the
ingestion should not exceed the digestion. We have also briefly
mentioned the importance of keeping the digestion tuned up to the
best speed by having the organization in a condition to most
readily take in changes.
That we must make some allowance for inertia of thought and habit
in all mortals goes without saying, but the exact amount to be
allowed is very difficult to estimate.
Successful management depends on the degree with which a man can
estimate the receptivity of other beings with whom he deals. This
knowledge of receptivity should include the thought and action of
men all the way from the unskilled worker to the directors, and
also that of all men in other organizations in any way affected by
his organization.
Just as food is more digestible if agreeable to the palate, so
this receptivity or assimilating power may be increased by
presenting new ideas and methods in agreeable form. A full
realization of the effect of this inertia of thought and habit
makes the great efficiency of specialization more comprehensible.
It is this human side that is the key, and if we do not act in
full accord with it we will probably be working against a great
handicap.
The inertia works two ways. It hurts a progressive man just as
much to be tied to a work that requires no brainwork as it hurts a
sleepy member to be disturbed by progressive talk.

Physical Condition of Worker.

If the use of the machine induces either an adverse mental
attitude or physical condition of the worker, it will sooner or
later be adverse to the economic success of the machine.
We have indicated some of the problems and have suggested the
well-known method of mental control for this purpose. A keen
observer of men and machinery may not require as much of the
so-called practical experience; another may need many years of
actual work.
The practical experience in the various departments of machine
construction, its sale and its use, is undoubtedly almost
absolutely necessary for the average man in this work.
Its value is primarily to give an opportunity to see things in
actual operation. The shop affords an opportunity to see how a
machine stands up to its work, where it is weak, and a thousand
and one points that can best be seen in actual operation. But
there is still another phase that is comprehended more readily by
the practical experience, and this applies to the various
departments of business as well as to the works. It is the
knowledge of the men and their mental make-up and attitude.
A keen observer soon realizes that successful life in the
machinery world will not come easily to any one who lacks a good
understanding of others in the field.

Good Results with Moderate Effort.

A faster pace will not be advocated, for the present gait is
overstrenuous. We hope, however, to point out a way by which good
results may be obtained with, moderate effort.
If, in the past, the brain has been found wanting, we should not
lose confidence in its reliability until we have seen how it has
been managed.
Under some conditions its interpretations are absolutely correct;
in fact, under all conditions that would be called fair in testing
other kinds of mechanism.
Unfortunately, these conditions have not always existed. Opinions
regarding important matters have been formed when accurate
mentation has been impossible.

[Footnote]INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT.

[Footnote text: A revision of material originally under title of
Human Factor in Works Management by James Hartness, published by
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., New York.]
The navigator in preparing for a voyage carefully examines each of
his instruments. He must know the present error of his chronometer
and its rate of change, and its general reliability as indicated
by its past record. He must also know errors in his compasses for
each point, and he should have the fullest information regarding
the degree of reliability of every other means on which his
success depends; and, last but not least, he must accurately
determine his starting-point or point of departure.
In taking up the subject before us we will do well to follow his
example.
In doing so, our task will be to examine two principal elements:
one, the means on which we depend for interpreting the information
that is available; and the other, the source and character of the
information.
The means may be considered analogous to the navigator's
instruments, and is no less a thing than the brain or mental
machinery; and the information is simply the world about us as
seen in the existing things, such as machinery, methods, popular
notions, textbooks, etc., all of which may be classed as
environments, and may be considered as analogous to the charts and
other publications of our worthy example.
Like the mariner, we must determine the degree of reliability of
all these sources of information and our means for interpreting
observed facts.
When we have ascertained this we will know what allowance to make
from the "observed" to get the actual facts. With this knowledge
we will be able to accurately determine both our starting-point
and best course.
The importance of considering our own minds will be seen when we
realize that every new fact taken in must in a measure conform to
the previous ideas. If some of these old ideas are erroneous, the
mind must be more or less ready to discard them. It is very
difficult to dislodge deep-seated convictions. Contradictory ideas
are not assimilated. Only one of them is actually accepted. Even
when to the objective reasoning they seem false, they frequently
continue to control our actions.
Since we are loaded with the popular ideas which we have absorbed
from our environment, it will be well for us to begin by
critically examining our environment and the process by which
ideas have been taken in. This may enable us to put out some of
the erroneous views, and perhaps more firmly fix the true ideas;
thereby preparing the mind for a more ready acceptance of what
otherwise would be barred out as contradictory.
We shall not go deeply into the psychology of the subject, as it
will not be necessary to go contrary to or beyond the well-known
facts.
We shall not try to locate the man or refer to him as the ego or
inner man. We shall simply say that we know that we can use our
brains to think on any subject, and we can use our senses to
collect information regarding any chosen subject.
Our senses and mental faculties can be directed to consider one
element in a business, and for the moment be unmindful of the many
other elements. In other words, we can to a certain extent manage
our mental processes. Just as a horse can be managed, so may we
manage our brains. A driver may carefully control the expenditure
of energy and the course traveled, or he may throw the reins over
the dash and allow the horse to go his own gait and route. In the
same way we may manage or mismanage our brains.

SPECIALIZATION.

Of the many elements on which industrial development depends, the
question of specialization looms large.
Under the general term "specialization" we include all plans and
methods of work by which the scope of activity of man is
concentrated.
The highest degree of skill of artist or worker is attained by
concentration of energies to a restricted range of work. It is
through practice that the skill is acquired. The highest skill and
highest ability is attained by the degree of interested attention
and number of repetitions of a given kind of work.
Other things being equal, the practice, combined with keenness of
interest, makes the most successful man in a given profession or
work.
Repetition of operation becomes an automatic (habit) action in
which man accomplishes the most work for a given expenditure of
energy.
These two results--proficiency and easy performance--are of
greatest value, but repetition of action, like nearly all good
things, is not without its drawbacks. An overdose of one kind of
work with a limited range of action frequently leads to dulling
the senses. This stultifying effect produces a most undesirable
result. The harm begins when there is a loss of interest in the
work, for it is through the interest that the progress is made.
The dividing line between the good and bad results varies with
different types of men.
The simplest tasks may become of intense interest to the scientist
and he may achieve great success in a work that to others seems
monotonous drudgery. But with all its drawbacks it still is the
best way for man to work and while we must labor to eliminate the
condition of drudgery, we must face the plain fact that
competition between men, industries, states and nations makes it
absolutely necessary to specialize.
Specialization by the men and groups of men will determine the
question of superiority of advance in science, industry, commerce,
general wealth and welfare, as well as military strength in the
time of war.
While we have clearly before us the degrading effects of
repetition of distasteful tasks; we must not ignore the other
extreme.
The opposite condition is the employment of energies of mind and
body in ways that cannot produce high degree of ability. With such
desultory use of energies, a day's work is of relatively small
value, and there is no progress.
Of the two extremes we find the most prevalent to be the
scatter-brain and scatter ability type.
The industries of the higher type lead in providing the best
implements and in organization of best team work by which each
worker produces the greatest value for a given expenditure of
energy.
The essential bearing Of these facts is that the worker as well as
the business man should compare his work with the work of others
with whom he is in competition.
In these days of long distance transportation our competitors in
the market may be a long distance away.
If it is in agriculture, the question of climate, soil and degree
to which highly efficient implements can be used, are important
factors.
If it is in the professions we must see how we can acquire the
greatest proficiency and opportunity. This again involves the
question of the extent to which we must specialize.
The measure then of success is the value of our services as
compared with the services of others.
One of the important problems in industrial management is the
extent to which specialization should be practiced.
On one hand we see the ill effects of a routine repetition where
there has been an overdose of repetition--one that has gone beyond
the beneficial point--and on the other hand, we find that the
greatest achievements in the sciences and professions have been
wrought by those who have concentrated in a way that has given
them a higher development. Unfortunately in many of the
industries, the development of machinery has gone forward with the
sole end in view of dollars and cents, disregarding the effect on
the worker.
This is to be found in some of the industries in which originally
there was an opportunity for the worker to have a keen interest in
his work. Mention is made of this situation as it comes about with
certain stages of development of the manufacturing processes. It
is unfortunate and something that the engineers and managers
should endeavor to eliminate.
We have very few of such industries in Vermont; they can broadly
be classed as undesirable industries. The fact that there are such
industries should not in itself drive us from the scheme of
working by which men specialize. We should, however, see to it
that the degree of repetition of operation goes only to the
beneficial extent. Our greatest trouble in Vermont has been the
wasteful scattering of each man's energies over a variety of
tasks.
Competition with the outer world makes it absolutely necessary
that we use our energies in the most effective manner; that most
effective manner is the one by which through repetition and
experience we acquire skill and ability. The important matter to
decide is the degree to which we can specialize. This degree
varies with the work and the individual. To an alert and active
mentality routine work becomes drudgery, while to the opposite
type, mental work is annoying. In an industry, men gradually fit
in with the most suitable work. Each man's job should be one that
is best for him.
Nothing has been said thus far regarding the invention of new
forms of articles to manufacture, or of new methods of machinery
for manufacturing articles. These elements and many others are
necessary in order to complete a successful plant, but the
fundamentals embraced in a statement regarding the habit-action of
man represented by special ability and skill acquired by
experience, and the habit-action of the group acquired in the same
way, constitutes a measure in determining the way at ninety per
cent of the cross roads in industrial progress. Anyone undertaking
the creation of a new organization or the management of a going
concern must grasp these facts.
The value of experience, if acquired in an industry where such
fundamental principles have been recognized, should be given the
highest rating. Experience, however, in an industry where the
energies of men were not most effectively employed and where there
was not a recognition that the effective employment of man's
energies require a general development of mind and body up to the
man's capacity, cannot be counted as wholly good unless, through
force of purpose, there is the strength to adopt a new path.

HABIT ACTION, BASIS OF SKILL AND PROFICIENCY.

We have many text books on the subject of industrial finance, of
engineering, of invention, of industrial management, and all these
books are written on the assumption that the human being knows his
own kind. A study of our failures seems to reveal, however, that
we have misunderstood the human being.
For instance, while we know that skill and experience is
invaluable, we make our mistake by underrating its value, or too
often we limit its application to the hand worker. We say that
skill of the pianist, the surgeon, the workman must be acquired by
practice. We know that in many trades a workman must spend three,
four or more years as an apprentice, and at least the same number
of years is necessary of actual specialized practice in almost any
department of work, but we overlook the fact that that special
skill or that special ability on which modern success is based
must be acquired under certain conditions.
The oriole builds a nest unlike the robin's nest. Each is
qualified in its own work. We know that these birds would be
sorely handicapped, and would probably be downright failures in
providing nests in season for eggs, if each were required to work
to plans and specifications of the other bird's nest.
Our fundamental error in understanding our own kind seems to lie
in the fact that we fail to recognize that man is a creature of
habit to an extent not quite equal to that of the lower animals,
but nevertheless to a degree that positively stands in the way of
any man who tries to create or manage an industry without giving
due value to this one element.
Another way to say all this is that we must recognize experience
is necessary--experience not only for the worker but for each one
in the organization.
The effect of this characteristic of habit action is so profound
that any disturbance in a plant due to changing the position of
benches or machinery or changing the character of the work
sorely interferes with man's efficiency. On account of this
characteristic the degree to which man's energies are most
effectively employed goes in direct proportion to the degree in
which there is a minimum of changes in the character of the work.
The importance of this will be realized when we consider the
question of competition, for that, in the last analysis,
constitutes the measure of success.
Now, if we extend the plan of acquisition of special ability to
embrace men in office as well as in the workshop we have covered
the whole subject and have said nothing more than that it is
necessary for all men in the office as well as in the workshop to
have a special ability that has been acquired by experience.
If it is as simple as this, why the need of saying it? The need is
brought about by the painful fact that one of the characteristics
of habit action is to continue on without change even after the
mind has apparently recognized that a change should be made.
Success comes not from the mere _word_ knowledge of these
things, but through action.

MANUFACTURERS AND NEW INDUSTRIES.

One of the forces that operates against increase in the number of
industrial establishments is the fact that we do not realize the
need of human progress in our plants. Men should progress from job
to job until they reach their best achievement. Some gain their
greatest success in some manual work in which they acquire great
skill and others go on to executive positions and even graduate to
join other organizations or to start new industries.
We fail to see this fundamental law regarding the growth of the
manufacturing organization, and seldom realize the prime necessity
of the fundamental law relating to specialization. We overlook the
fact that stagnation in place of progress of the men in the plant
is deadly to the organization, and feel that if we get an
extra-efficient man in a certain position that he must be kept there
regardless of his own opportunity for advancement. We fail to realize
that progress all the way through the organization, should be
encouraged--that while man is distinctly a creature of habit, his mind
as well as his body must be considered, and that only by changes of a
progressive nature does he develop most favorably.
Too often a manufacturer is opposed to the creation of other
organizations by men from his own organization, when, as a matter
of fact, it would be a great deal better for his own institution
if he would encourage the growth of other plants that can be
created by his own men.

INVENTOR'S PROPORTION.

In the machine tool industries, one-third of the interest in the
plant is given to the inventor. This, to the average investor
appears to be an unfair proportion, but it is one of those cases
in which the broadest vision is necessary, and a glance at the
earning power of such organizations as well as the prestige of the
inventions, will bear out the wisdom of the general plan in
similar industries.
The plan, however, should not be considered as something that
boosts only one man or one group of men. If there is any attempt
to exploit labor, the plan is wrong. The scheme must be
fundamentally right so that each man coming into the workshop or
the office of business finds there his best opportunity to develop
and receive his best return for the use of his energies.
It is hoped that succeeding chapters will build up confidence in
the scheme that will make it possible for men to see the way to
progress in this line, to have faith in each other and to know
that their ultimate success will come through a spirit of
cooperation, concentration of attention and energies of each man
to his own special work so as to attain highest ability and last
but not least, the complete coordination of all in one safe, sane
industrious organization.

NEW INDUSTRIES.

The first men to function in the creation of new industries are
those who are already well grounded by long experience in some
special form of industry. The new organizations must have men well
qualified to direct each of its branches.
In general it may be stated that a new organization must start
with a superior article to manufacture and the elements of a
superior organization. Sometimes it is possible by invention alone
to win without the aid of the modern plan of specialized
organization. On the other hand, the success may be attained by
superior organization without a superior article to manufacture,
but in general it is better to combine all of the possible
beneficial factors in a new organization.
Organizers should know the market possibilities. If possible, the
product should be sold directly to the user. The contact with the
ultimate user is of supreme importance in the development of the
invention and the organization. In dealing through a selling
agency the manufacturer is not in control of the whole business.
The selling agent dictates the policy of the whole business. He
dictates the policy of the manufacturing plant from the selling
agent's needs and that seldom fits the manufacturing conditions.
The selling department generally demands many changes in product
and wide range of articles of manufacture, while the manufacturing
conditions require that special skill and ability that can only be
developed by continuity of action of a given kind, and this
restricts the range of produce.
If the head or one of the heads of a proposed organization knows
the market condition and knows what can be done in the sale of a
new article, then the question of invention and manufacture can be
safely left to those who have been well grounded in such
principles. That leaves only the question of the financial
arrangements.
The method of forming a stock company under the laws of Vermont is
very simple and people are generally well disposed to invest in
the stock of the new company providing the men at the head are
known to be competent--the inventor as an inventor, the business
man as a business man and so on all the way through. The standards
of measure of each one of the men and the standards of measure of
conducting the business are set forth in other chapters. At this
time it is sufficient to say that getting the capital is the
easiest part of the job. The real work is the preliminary work of
acquiring experience and devising plans.
A plan to create a new industry does not call for disloyalty to
the employer, for as a rule it is very foolish to attempt to
compete with an established organization excepting on some
business that gives the new organization an advantage by one or
more of the following points: invention, simpler product, simpler
methods, a higher degree of specialization, a more effective and
direct scheme of sales or a better spirit of personnel.
One of the essential things for the business man--if the business
man is not the inventor--is to grasp the fact that his success is
tied up to the inventor. The inventor is needed in the development
all the way through, not only in guiding the form of the
manufactured article, but in a large degree by dictating the
process by which the article is to be manufactured. The inventor
usually needs curbing to keep him from disturbing his own market
by the creation of newer forms, but these matters are treated
under the chapter of invention.
The principle element to set forth now is that it is a waste of
time and money for a few business men to buy a patent or an
invention and then dispense with the service of the inventor. They
are merely going to sea without a navigator. On the other hand it
is equally true that the inventor must consider the business side
of the problem and do all in his power to devise effective means
to facilitate the process of manufacturing.
The point to be made here is that there is no chance to win in
this game by sharp practice. It is only through work and the
combined work and energy of all the men in the organization that
anyone can win.

SOME INDUSTRIAL HOWS, WHYS AND WHATS.

How groups of men achieve the highest results in expenditure of
given energy.
What is necessary to establish such conditions.
What are the most desirable opportunities.
What are desirable industries.
Why the need of building up habit-action.
How a group of men, through team work, acquires a group habit- action by
which their product greatly exceeds the product of the same number of
men working without cooperation.
How the individual ability and skill, as well as the group ability
and skill is only to be acquired by repetition that establishes
habit-action.
Why repetition of operation is essential to acquisition of skill
and special ability.
What are the boundaries that divide the Jack of all Trades, the
specialist and the victim of an overdose of repetition work.
Why industrial managers should know the cardinal principles of
invention, of industrial engineering, industrial management,
industrial relations and the human factor in engineering and in
the industries.
Why a plant may be growing in size and paying dividends and may
still be dead so far as the spirit of enterprise is concerned.
Why some men try to manage industrial plants regardless of the
cardinal principles of progress of workers and the state.
Why the ideal conditions for the workers and executives can only
be found in an industrial establishment that can successfully
compete with others.
These "whys", "whos" and "whats" are of importance to all and
suggest a line of thought and interest in this industrial
discussion.

"DEAD" ORGANIZATIONS.

In all cities we can see "dead" organizations. Many of these
companies that are actually "dead" seem to have life in them
because they continue to move, but in many instances the motion is
only due to the momentum of a push that was given years ago.
A "dead" organization may show signs of life in its gradual growth
in size, but its real character is to be seen in the extent to
which it is departing from specialization or by the continued use
of antiquated methods and buildings.
The departure from specialization is generally due to either lack
of courage to discard obsolete designs or to an inclination to
consider the business from the selling end only.
It takes courage to discard an old model and it also takes courage
to refuse to build some new invention.
The indifferent management carries the old and takes on the new.
This policy covering many years creates a condition that is far
removed from the specialization plan.
The management that views everything from the selling side of the
business is also inclined to go on indefinitely increasing the
line of goods manufactured.
The drift away from specialization may not be disasters today or
tomorrow, especially, if there are no competitors who are
specialists, but the inevitable result will be the burial of the
"dead" organization when a real competitor comes into the field.
The calamity of the existence of "dead" industrial organizations
is something more than the ultimate loss to the stockholders, it
is the deplorable stagnation in which the workers find themselves
with their progress blocked by lifeless management.

WHAT IS NOT AN INDUSTRY.

Perhaps it will be well to state first what does not constitute
an industry. Power, transportation facilities, fine buildings,
fine machinery and a group of skilled workmen, a complete office
staff and an elaborate system of fad management do not constitute
an industry. Such an aggregation might be likened to a cargo ship
all ready for service excepting that it lacks a captain and
navigating officer and some one to determine what kind of a cargo
to take, where to go and how to get there.
The greatest value of an industrial plant that has everything but
a work to do and a leader to determine its major policies, lies in
the skilled workers and able executives in work and office. The
buildings and machinery come next in value, but the whole thing is
worthless without the idea and the vision.

PROTECT THE INDUSTRIAL SPIRIT.

Industries and the workers should be protected from incompetent
managers, investigators and impractical theorists.
Industries and the workers go forward by actual work, not on
manipulation of stocks, bonds, laws and schemes to wreck or boost
for temporary gain of some one interest.
In general it is safe to have faith in the honesty of the workers
and those who cooperate with them--at least we can start with the
assumption that honesty and square dealing are not monopolized by
other professions.
If we will remember that an industry has a vitality the same as a
man, that its life can be destroyed by an ignorant investigator
with a probe poking into every nerve and muscle, we will make
Vermont a more natural place for industrial development and
progress.
The attitude of the workers and the general public should be
cordial instead of antagonistic for every desirable industry is an
asset of great value.
In theory and law an industry belongs to the stockholders, at
least it is for the stockholders to elect the board of directors
who through practical officers manage the business; but, as a
matter of actual fact, to the man who has the best job in the
world for himself right in that organization, the life of the
organization is of greater importance than it is to any one of the
stockholders. In the same sense the existence of the industry is
of greater value to many others in the organization and in the
community than it is to the stockholders.
Hence, anything that interferes with the success of the
organization injures many people.

LIMITATIONS OF MAN'S PROGRESS.

It is not contemplated that all men will become managers or
office men. Such positions are not of a kind that is satisfactory
to many of our ablest men. Some are happiest in work in which they
acquire great skill. They are disturbed and made uncomfortable
when required to solve mental problems. Some of the greatest
achievements have been wrought by such men, who have been highly
honored in the past and such men will have more recognition as
time goes on, for we are coming to understand the fact that we
must depend on such men for special ability in the form of skill,
whether it is in the surgery, mechanics, art or any other branch
or division of work or the professions. Such men are not talkers
and do not force themselves into spectacular positions. To say
that there is no progress for the surgeon if he cannot become
manager of the hospital, nor for the skilled worker if he cannot
become manager of the industrial plant, would not be in keeping
with facts for we know that such men have made the greatest
contribution to the world's welfare.
This plan of individual progress should not be disturbing to the
worker who has come to a standstill. It is the ideal toward which
we must work. It can never be wholly attained, but such a policy
will make a vast difference with the prospects of all workers and
in the success of industrial organizations.

OUR INDUSTRIAL POLICY.

We must endeavor to establish desirable industries. The most
desirable industries are those in which there is an opportunity
for development of all the workers and a chance for the greatest
number to find the best opportunity to acquire special skill and
special ability. In such industries there should be the open door
of progress so that those who are qualified for advancement can go
forward from position to position with no barrier other than their
own mental or physical limitations.
Special ability, skill and team work are only acquired by long
specialized practice. These qualities constitute the most valuable
assets on which to create a new concern.
Very elaborate systems have been designed for controlling the flow
of the work through the plant and the division of the various
activities between men and departments, but the real effective
coordination must grow out of the actual working conditions of the
workers. This natural evolution of the group's effectiveness as a
single organization is one of greatest importance. The impractical
theorist coming into an old plant will start in at once to
rearrange the order of things irrespective of both the group
habit-action and the habit-action of each man.
Changes must be most sparingly made, with the full knowledge that
anything that interferes with the habit-action of the workers is a
serious hindrance. All people concerned, whether as executives in
the industry, or as investors, must remember that in a growing
industry, individual skill as well as group skill of the whole
organization greatly improves with continued action. Under the
process of continued action the average man can make a fair
showing and with a reasonable degree of moral support will make
good, while without it the ablest man will have a hard time and
even fail if he is forced to accept changes that disturb
continuity of action.
The management must conform to the best world practice in
engineering, industrial life, individual welfare and economics. It
must have every element of organization kept in best condition.
The spirit of the group is of great importance, for the
organization goes forward on the congenial nature of each man's
profession or work. Each man's energies, both mental and physical,
must be employed constructively with the minimum disturbance. His
energies must be concentrated on his own particular work. This
concentration applies to all workers and executives. This plan is
based on the fact that, through continuity of attention and
application to a given work, man acquires a special aptitude. It
also recognizes that each man on the face of the earth, from the
tramp along the railroad to the most highly developed scientist
and executive, has a special knowledge and special ability that he
has acquired by experience.
It is needless to say that in competition with the whole world
there must be alertness every day in the guidance of details of
mechanism and business, and that it is not by the gathering
together of a group of men at the end of the year or even once a
month or once a week that business can be effectively managed; it
is a continued application to the work every day and every hour
that counts.
There should be no absentee management. The men who manage must be
in close touch with the work and the workers--not merely through
written or oral reports, but by actual observation.
Travel, study and observation of other connections and work are
necessary, but the home must be with the industrial plant and that
must be the prime interest.

HAVE FAITH IN VERMONT.

Travelers through the west, particularly on the coast statesbring back the story of optimism that seems to be characteristic
of the enterprising people who migrated west in the early days.
This spirit of optimism is not found in all parts of our country,
and yet it is of high value. In New England for instance, in each
state there is a state pride, but perhaps not to the extent that
we find in the larger cities and in the west. Here we are more
interested in the success of our various branches of activities.
Vermonters have been notably free to go beyond state boundaries in
the acquisition of trade or profession and in practice, but
optimism, which is the parent of enterprise, has an excellent
chance for existing in our state.
The early history of industrial development shows it followed
along the avenues of transportation--seaports and lakeports and
railways. With the railways the industries spread to other states,
notably Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Now there is setting
in a readjustment and the time is ripe for Vermonters to use some
of their spirit of enterprise within the boundaries of the old
state. Goods may be shipped to the best market from the top of our
highest mountain at lower cost than it could be shipped from some
remote competitors. There is every angle favorable except the full
knowledge of the situation and the elements on which industrial
success can now be achieved.
The coming and use of machinery has been a most potent force in
determining the economic rating of city and state, and it is in
this respect that Vermont has now its great opportunity, and it is
in the field in which invention, the use of machinery, the right
methods of building up an effective group of workers that there is
the surest reward for the energy put forth by investors,
organizers and workers.
If you have grasped these facts; continue to study the elements of
the plan; fit yourself as an experienced worker or executive in
some branch of the work; see that the scheme of work is one that
can successfully compete with other producers; then put your whole
self into the work.
If you wish to get the plan into your own consciousness and
action, tell it to others.
Become a practical booster of the plan.
It fits the future.
It fits today.
Be a Booster.
It is right.
It pays.

OUR PROBLEM.

Without going further into the analysis of the conditions that
confront us, it is obvious that an increase in the size and number
of desirable industries is an object worthy of our attention and
efforts.
We have clearly in mind that more money flowing into the state
will improve our entire economic situation. Taxes, markets,
population, schools, opportunities for Vermonters and general
improvement in all values and interests.
The next thing to do is to get an industrial policy that will
guide us in our course as individuals, managers, engineers,
manufacturers, investors, progressive workers and as citizens. The
idea must precede action and the action must precede results. The
true idea will bring results of like character, hence the need of
the fullest knowledge on which to form the idea.
A simple outline of a desirable industry may be drawn through the
following points:
First: An ideal industry is an organization in which the energies
of mind and body are most effectively employed.
Second: Since man is something more than a physical body, his work
must be one in which he feels an interest and satisfaction.
Third: Since there are various kinds of implements to aid man in
his work, a successful organization should use the most effective
type.
Fourth: Since man is a creature of habit and functions most
effectively when he has acquired skill through experience, each
one in the workshop and office should be experienced in his
particular branch of the work.
Fifth: Since the high skill of men is attained through repetition
of operations, the management must subdivide the work into classes
in which each man can become highly proficient.
Sixth: Just as there is an individual skill and ability acquired
by the individual, so there must be a group skill built up. The
group skill is acquired by the coordination of the energies of all
the workers so that the work flows naturally and evenly from
worker to worker with the minimum hindrance. This coordination
takes place naturally through experience. It only needs common
sense supervision and a protection of the workers from the
impractical interference of faddists.

VERMONT FAVORABLY LOCATED.

Our nearness to these industrial states give us an advantage over
more remote states, but it is not sufficient in itself to bring
our share of industrial expansion. Nevertheless it is one of the
greatest advantages and constitutes one of the strong points on
which we base our faith in our plan for greater industrial
development.
The next element to nearness to existing plants is the spirit and
understanding of the people. Vermont has the best spirit of
industry but has not the fullest conception of industrial life and
opportunity. It is this purpose of setting forth the principles of
desirable industrial life that constitutes the next step.
When these principles are understood, we will improve the chances
for the acquisition of local industries through the coming of
others from nearby states or by the establishment of new plants by
some of our own people who are already well qualified to carry
forward such enterprise. But whether it is brought about by these
or any other means, the basic principle on which successful
industries are built must be known and must constitute the policy
of organization and management.
The principles set forth are basic. They constitute the necessary
addition of the practical knowledge of invention, management and
general business knowledge gained in existing plants.
Industrial life calls for the best that is found in brain,
enterprise and ability and should have every possible aid and
cooperation. Furthermore it should be protected from impractical
promoters, impractical managers and obstructive theorists.
It is actual work and accomplishment that counts. The workers and
those who lead and cooperate with them should not have their
combined efforts handicapped by those who have never done actual
work or who have never been performing an essential service.
Indifference and misdirection are our greatest enemies in times of
peace. These hinder our growth and if allowed to exist, will
ultimately lead to our becoming a subservient people.
We are all ready to accept these facts but may differ as to the
best ways to use our energies.
We are already making good progress in various branches of
agriculture, granite and marble work, and in various branches of
manufacturing of wood, textiles and metal, but a direct comparison
with our manufacturing states shows that we do not bring into the
state an adequate return for our labor.
Many of our young people migrate to more remunerative kinds of
work in other states, and as already stated some of these
Vermonters have led in the creation and upbuilding of great
industrial establishments.
There are now many good chances to create new and energize our
existing industries.
Some may ask why should we consider other industries when we can
find many good opportunities in our present enterprises. The
answer is that our people drift away to other states to get into
these industries for there they have discovered that the best
chance to produce a large value for a day's work is where best
implements are used and where there is the best organization of
workers.
They have found that in some respects we are lagging behind in the
use of best methods and best implements.

CONQUEST OF PEACE.

Before the war Vermont and the nation were approaching a serious
economic crises. The war has accentuated the gravity of the
situation, but has also demonstrated certain human characteristics
that can be enlisted to correct our course. We found during the
war that we were ready to take heroic action whenever an occasion
demanded it--that there was a solidarity of purpose of our people.
This characteristic must now be invoked. We must meet the
conditions that confront us by unity of public opinion and team
work.
The conditions that confront us do not involve the possibility of
immediate invasion of our country by a hostile nation, but they
carry a burdensome penalty if we fail to take the right action.
Happily we are not required to risk our lives or even work harder,
but we must recognize the plain facts that we are not sharing in
the general economic progress of our neighboring states.
In war the nation that wins the victory imposes a burden of tax on
the conquered nation. In the conquest of peace the victorious
nations also impose a burden on the losers. This burden is just as
real as the burden imposed by war, for in both cases the losers
are paying tribute to the winners. This applies to states, to
communities, to families and to men. The situation calls for
prompt attention and concerted action by the people of our state
and country.
In the conquest of peace success comes to those people who produce
the greatest value with a given expenditure of energy, or, in
other words, to the people who at the end of a day's, a year's or
a life's work can measure their return in the largest value.
Dollars constitute our measures of value for they are our medium
of exchange of our products of labor. If, to accomplish the same
result, the man with inferior implements must work harder than the
man with the best implements, it is very easy to see who has to
pay tribute to the other in the market where values are compared
and payment made for values.
Owing to the advance that has been made both in invention of
implements and methods and in the organization of workers, there
is now a marked difference in the value of the product of a day's
work. A study of this situation shows the supreme need of action
that will direct our energies as individuals and as a state in a
way that will bring the largest value for a day's work.
We must choose with care our work, our equipment and our methods
of combining our efforts. There must be team work within each
industrial plant and each plant must be in tune with the whole
competing world.
As a people we have not lagged behind, in fact we have been
leaders in many important branches, but our enterprise has known
no state boundaries, and many of our men and women have gone to
other states. Hence, while as a people we have been leaders, as a
state we have been lagging behind the more active industrial
states.
Vermont is very close to the most highly developed industrial
center on the face of this globe. These centers, through
coordination, invention and choice of work, have been able to
produce greater values per man per day. Men with the spirit of
industry and a practical knowledge gained by experience in these
highly developed centers go out from such centers and build up
other industrial centers wherever the best opportunity appears.
The nearest places to these centers are the most natural fields in
which to start new organizations. But when no cooperating spirit
is found near at hand, these carriers of industry go till they
find better places. Many have traveled past Vermont because we
were busy in other lines and our money was being sent to other
states for investment. Many of our own men left the town of
Windsor during the last sixty years, and from this one town there
has been built a number of important industries in other states
notably in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
It is not necessary to assume that the industrial spirit has
spread under the guidance of man or just by chance as these men of
practical knowledge and enterprise have drifted. It may be that
the successful new centers were merely a few of thousands of
attempts in other places. Our problem is to study the conditions
under which these industries thrive and then see how we can
establish these conditions.
In this way we will be acting in harmony with the natural drift or
natural law, if you prefer, and this is one of the purposes of
this book.