"Much is said about scientific management of work. It is a narrow view which restricts the science which secures efficiency of operation to movements of the muscles. The chief opportunity for science is the discovery of the relations of a man to his work — including his relations to others who take part — which will enlist his intelligent interest in what he is doing. Efficiency in production often demands division of labor. But it is reduced to mechanical routine unless workers see the technical, intellectual, and social relationships involved in what they do, and engage in their work because of the motivation furnished by such perceptions. The tendency to reduce such things as efficiency of activity and scientific management to purely technical externals is evidence of the one-sided stimulation of thought given to those in control of industry — those who supply its aims. Because of their lack of all-round and well-balanced social interest, there is not sufficient stimulus for attention to the human factors and relationships in industry. Intelligence is narrowed to the factors concerned with technical production and marketing of goods. No doubt, a very acute and intense intelligence in these narrow lines can be developed, but the failure to take into account the significant social factors means none the less an absence of mind, and a corresponding distortion of emotional life."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
John Dewey (1916) Democracy and Education, section seven: Implications of Human Association
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Efficiency
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Efficiency
30 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Efficiency →
Related Quotes
"There is an efficiency case for an institutional welfare state."
"National politics have from the start aimed primarily at efficiency — that is, at the successful use of the force res…"
"These two attitudes, the attitude of deifying mere efficiency, mere success, without regard to the moral qualities ly…"
"Modern institutions are transparently purposive and that we are in the midst of an evolutionary progression toward mo…"
"It is fundamentally the confusion between effectiveness and efficiency that stands between doing the right things and…"
"Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether i…"
"The aim of our efficiency has not been to produce goods, but to harvest dollars... The production of goods was always…"
"The increase of this efficiency is essentially the problem of the manager, and the amount to which it can be increase…"
"The efficiency of a group working together is directly related to the homogeneity of the work they are performing."
"First, the welfare state is not a subject apart, but fits naturally into the framework of economic analysis. Secondly…"