38. Scientific management —> Scientific schooling
[From Seth Godin, Stop Stealing Dreams http://www.squidoo.com/stop-stealing-dreams]
There didn’t used to be one right way, one perfected method, one step-by-step approach to production.
But in the industrial age, scientific management is obvious when you think about it: record how long it takes to make something, change the way you do it, see if you can do it faster or better. Repeat.
Frederick Taylor was right—we could dramatically increase industrial productivity by measuring and systemizing the assembly line. His method become the standard for any assembly line that wanted to become more productive (and thus competitive).
Use your left hand, not your right, to pick this up. Turn up the lights. Lower the height of the counter. Process exactly six units per minute.
Scientific management changed the world as we knew it. And there’s no doubt it boosted productivity.
The rise of scientific management furthered the need for obedient and competent factory workers, individuals with enough skill and self-control to do precisely what they were told.
So it’s not a surprise that schools were enlisted to train future employees in just that—skill and self-control. Of course, it’s not self-control, really; it’s external control. The willingness (or tolerance) to accept external instruction and become compliant.
From there, from this position of wanting to manufacture compliant workers, it’s only a tiny step to scientific schooling.
Scientific schooling uses precisely the same techniques as scientific management. Measure (test) everyone. Often. Figure out which inputs are likely to create testable outputs. If an output isn’t easily testable, ignore it.
It would be a mistake to say that scientific education doesn’t work. It does work. It creates what we test.
Unfortunately, the things we desperately need (and the things that make us happy) aren’t the same things that are easy to test.
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