In the There are a few topics in the agile world that are the stalking horses for the agile advocates. One is The Principles of Scientific Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylorism is tossed around like Water Fall, as the source of all evil in agile development.
It takes the challenge out of those railing against Taylorism would have actually read the book. The book (a paper actually) is 76 pages and describes the
Let's start with Taylor. The Introduction says it all...
In the past the man has been first; in the future, the system must be first. This in no sense, however, implies that great men are not needed. On the contrary, the first object of any good system must be that the developing of first-class men; and under systematic management, the best man rises to the top more certainly and more rapidly than ever before.
There are three principles of Taylor's approach to business improvement - written in 1911 - that are applicable today, especially for agile software development (page iv)
1. There is a great loss through inefficiency in almost all our daily acts
2. The remedy for this inefficiency lies in systematic management, rather than searching for some unusual or extraordinary man.
3. The best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined laws, rules, and principles, as a foundation. These fundamental principles are applicable to all kinds of human activities, from our simplest individual acts to the work of great operations, which call upon the most elaborate cooperation.
Remember these are 1911 words.
Let's look at Chapter 1.
The principle object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employé.
The words "maximum prosperity" are used, in their broad sense, to mean not only large dividends for the company or owner but the development of every branch of the business to its highest state of excellence, so that prosperity may be permanent
The role of business is to make money for investors. These can be employee investors, but at the end of the day, the business needs to make a profit (unless it's a non-profit and then it still needs enough funding to stay in business).
If we are writing software for money, then the goal of the business is to keep writing software for money.
In the same way maximum prosperity for each employé means not only higher wages than are usually received by men of his class, but, of more importance still, it also means the development of each man to his state of maximum efficiency, so that he may be able to do, generally speaking, the highest grade of work of which his natural abilities fit him, and it further means giving him, when possible, this class of work to do.
Remember this is 1911 culture and 1911 language.
It would seem to be self-evident that maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with maximum prosperity for the employé, ought to be the two leading objects of management, that even to state this fact should be unnecessary. And yet there is no question that, throughout the industrial world, a large part of the organization of employers, as well as employés, is for war rather than for peace, and that perhaps the majority of either side do not believe that it is possible so to arrange the mutual relations that their interested becomes identical.
This sounds familiar in 2017. But it does not remove the need to stop saying Taylorism is somehow evil.
