David S. Ferguson

Coordinator of The Gilbreth Network

American History is full of popular myths; stories, which have been accepted as true, despite factual information to the contrary. Betsy Ross made the first American flag; Thomas Edison was the sole inventor of the light bulb; or that Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill on horseback. None of these myths are true, as proved by extensive evidence and yet, these stories persist as supposed fact.

In a like fashion, historians continue to attribute the pioneering work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth to Frederick Taylor; all too often stating that Time and Motion Study is a single, comprehensive system or that Taylor referred to his system as "The One Best Way." Again, as with myths of Ross, Edison or Roosevelt, mountains of facts are conveniently ignored to preserve the myth.

In past issues of The Quest, I have written about some inaccuracies in Robert Kanigel’s book The One Best Way. Many letters have been written by myself and other Network members trying to correct the misnomers in Mr. Kanigel’s writings. I even wrote a letter to the author.

My letter, of August 9, 1997, cited three main points: 1) That, when discussing application of Scientific Management to housework, the author made no mention of the extensive work of Dr. Lillian Gilbreth. 2) The lumping of Time Study and Motion Study, together as one entity, was inaccurate, both in function and philosophy. 3) And, that "The One Best Way" was a phrase adopted by the Gilbreths to describe (and market) their work in management and motion study, and that Taylor never used it, certainly not as the mantra it became to the Gilbreths.

Mr. Kanigel answered my letter on December 28, 1997, and in general, made little concession to my points, which I had extensively documented.

Despite what remain strong differences of opinion and fact between myself and Mr. Kanigel, I will restate my positive feelings on his book. First, he never ignored Taylor’s personality or egotism. Indeed, he probably did more, than previous writers, to present a picture of the entire person. Second, unlike some past Taylor "fans," he gave a fair coverage of the contributions of the Gilbreths; while, not what this group would wish, at least the Gilbreths were well recognized for their work.

Most recently, Mr. Kanigel wrote a short article for the magazine, Bottom Line (June 15, 1998), in which he briefly outlined Taylor’s work. I found it interesting that when citing examples of Taylor’s research into the standards of work output, he quotes how Taylor (most likely through Thompson) found that "...one bricklayer and helper averaged about 480 bricks per working day." To any of you who have studied FBG’s figures on bricklaying, this figure of Taylor’s is a joke. Even when citing the improvements of his new system, Frank stated that before application of his methods, bricklayers completed 120 bricks per hour (960 for an eight-hour day).

I know from first-hand experience, that there is a lot of material to cover in the study of work. However, if you are going to cite Taylor, don’t make him look like a fool with the wrong figures. [Incidentally, this inaccuracy also drove Frank Gilbreth crazy.]

Thankfully, I’m not alone in this battle. Jim Perkins, who gave us the only remaining film record of the Gilbreths’ work, has been a stalwart supporter. He wrote the editor of Bottom Line, pointing out the omission of the significant and important contributions of the Gilbreths in improving the true efficiency of the worker.

Mr. Perkins has also written letters, responding to reviews of Kanigel’s book, making similar points. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Perkins for all of his efforts to set the record straight. With the added help of Ernestine Carey, William Jaffe and Randall Steger, we are at least educating the editors of these publications.

It is clear that the Gilbreth Network, and its members, have a big job to do. Not only do we need to see that the Gilbreths receive proper credit for their work, but we need to revitalize the philosophy the Gilbreths applied to work and the value of the worker. This is a job, which goes far beyond historical accuracy. The need for the Gilbreths’ vision was never greater than it is today.

If you want an example of the Gilbreth vision, you have to look no further than one of the best anecdotes from Frank Gilbreth.

If you need an indicator of the state of modern business, you could easily replay the same situation in almost any of today’s companies.

Dr. Charles Wrege

"The story of Lillian Gilbreth and the Committee for Industrial Lighting, October, 1924, is a simple one: Dr. Dugald C. Jackson, the chairman of the Committee (Thomas A. Edison was the honorary chairman) selected Charles E. Snow and John F. Scott (former students of Jackson at MIT) to handle the lighting tests in the field—Snow went to Hawthorne [Western Electric’s Illinois plant] and Scott to the G.E. Bridgeport plant. Snow was working at the G.E. Bloomfield N.J. plant (next to Montclair) and Jackson (apparently through Frank B. Jewett, of Bell Telephone Laboratories) asked for Snow (and Scott) to go to Lillian Gilbreth’s home in Montclair, to learn something about motion study and the techniques of industrial studies. They were taught by Lillian for about 4 days (Scott living with Snow, at Bloomfield, during the lessons).

In 1957, Snow (who was then head of Defense Projects, for Western Electric), told me, in his office at 120 Broadway, NYC, how he remembered Lillian instructing them while still doing the household chores, taking care of the children, etc. Even though it had occurred 33 years earlier, Snow still was impressed by her instruction. Unfortunately, the Committee never made any motions studies of workers so Lillian’s instructions were never used."

"In regard to Mary Pattison’s "Experimental Housekeeping Station" at Colonia, N.J. (1912Bwhich is described in her book Domestic Engineering [1915]) This book may have influenced later work, in this area, by Lillian.

Mary Pattison’s daughter, Dianatha "told me her mother often spoke of the Gilbreths and their visits to the station at Colonia (located adjacent to the Pattison "House of Four Winds," on Devon Road, Colonia, even today). Mary Pattison made motion studies of housekeeping chores, so may have been influenced by the Gilbreth’s also, aside from influencing them!"

Dr. Wrege was also kind enough to send an article relating to Frank Gilbreth’s work with the medical profession: Medical Men and Scientific Management: A Forgotten Chapter in Management History, Review of Business and Economic Research—Special Management Issue: Univ. of New Orleans, XVIII/3, Spring 1983. This article reviews FBG’s work with Doctors Ernest A. Codman and Robert L. Dickinson, in applying Scientific Management to the medical profession.

Engineering and Management Press has begun shipping copies of As I Remember and Managing On Her Own. Without hesitation, I can tell you that these volumes are "must-haves" for anyone interested in the Gilbreths.

Lillian Gilbreth’s As I Remember, is delightful reading. The book can’t be considered a comprehensive source, on the history of the Gilbreths; many significant stories have been left out. However, there is much information and many stories, told for the first time.

Dr. Gilbreth also paints a wonderful picture of her life growing up in the late Nineteenth Century. Her focus on the tiniest details makes you feel you are really there in Nineteenth Century Oakland.

Dr. Laurel Graham’s book, Managing On Her Own, makes a wonderful campaign volume. Here we find out about Dr. Gilbreth’s work, after Frank’s passing. This is the first time we have seen such detail in recounting Dr. Gilbreth’s many projects.

Dr. Graham points out how the focus of Dr. Gilbreth’s work was molded by a society which still wasn’t ready to accept a woman’s capability to work in a man’s world of industry. Instead, much of her paid work was in areas traditionally relegated to the woman/housewife or to provide designers and marketers with the woman’s point of view.

Both books are beautifully bound and contain many photographs from Ernestine Carey’s private collection. These "new" photographs (not contained in the Purdue or Smithsonian collections) are an added treat to the works.

The Gilbreth family has been kind enough to divide the royalties from As I Remember, between IIE’s Gilbreth Foundation (for scholarships), the Gilbreth Collection, at Purdue and the Gilbreth Network. This is a generous gift from the family and I believe Dr. Gilbreth would have approved of this.

Both books are available from Engineering and Management Press (800) 494-0460. I would urge members to buy two copies each and donate one set to their favorite library.

It’s been almost a quarter-century, since any book on the Gilbreths has been in print. These books are fine representatives of a continuing tradition of excellent reading on the subject.

To whet your appetite for As I Remember, there is a great, new FBG anecdote. To paraphrase the story:

Would you please join in congratulating the Gilbreth Network’s newest Ph.D., Dr. Jane Lancaster. Her work was completed May 29^th, with a dissertation on Lillian Gilbreth’s life. She will soon begin work on a book on the same subject. Her dissertation should soon be available, through UMI. We wish her all our best.

You can also find Dr. Lancaster’s article O’ Pioneer (originally published in the Brown Alumni Magazine), by conducting a "gilbreth" search on the Internet.

Please welcome our newest member, Dr. Daniel A. Wren, of the University of Oklahoma. He has an ongoing interest in the Gilbreths’ management work and will be a valuable resource for our members. You may contact him as follows:

Daniel A. Wren

David Ross Boyd Professor of Management

Price College of Business

University of Oklahoma

Part of the Fall issue will be devoted to fund raising for the Gilbreth Network. If you have any ideas or suggestions, to assist in this venture, please send them in, prior to the September close of submissions.

One idea which has been mentioned was charging a five-dollar per year subscription for The Quest. A vote of members would be taken before such a change was made.