The Principles of Scientific Management

THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT 119 and it remains standard for all workmen to use until superseded by an implement which has been shown, through motion and time study, to be still better. With this explanation it will be seen that the development of a science to replace rule of thumb is in most cases by no means a formidable under- taking, and that it can be accomplished by ordinary, every-day men without any elaborate scientific train- ing; but that, on the other hand, the successful use of even the simplest improvement of this kind calls for records, system, and cooperation where in the past existed only individual effort. There is another type of scientific investigation which has been referred to several times in this paper, and which should receive special attention, namely, the accurate study of the motives which influence men. At first it may appear that this is a matter for individual observation and judgment, and is not a proper subject for exact scientific experi- ments. It is true that the laws which result from experiments of this class, owing to the fact that the very complex organism—the human being is being experimented with, are subject to a larger number of exceptions than is the case with laws relating to material things. And yet laws of this kind, which apply to a large majority of men, unquestion- ably exist, and when clearly defined are of great value as a guide in dealing with men. In develop- ing these laws, accurate, carefully planned and executed experiments, extending through a term of