Taylorism
Taylorism, or scientific management, is the system of industrial organization developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor and codified in his 1911 The Principles of Scientific Management. Its operational core is the separation of conception from execution: management studies how work is done, codifies the findings into standardized procedures, and requires workers to follow the procedures rather than exercise judgment. Taylor presented this as science. Noble, following Braverman, identified it as a political strategy — a method for transferring control from skilled workers to management, disguised as neutral efficiency improvement.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Taylor's insight, which he presented as discovery but which was in fact strategy, was that the worker who controlled the knowledge of how work was done also controlled its pace, quality, and conditions. The machinist who knew the optimal cutting speed could adjust that speed to suit himself rather than the employer. Taylor's solution was to study the work, codify