1856-1915
Management Consultant

Obsession with Order.

Born into a puritanically disciplined family, Frederick Winslow Taylor became a man preoccupied with control. He had an obsessivecompulsive character and was driven by a relentless need to tie down and master almost every aspect of his life. His activities at home, in the garden, and on the golf course, as well as at work were dominated by programs and schedules, planned in detail and rigidly followed. Even his afternoon walks were carefully laid out in advance. The obsession with order that was manifested later in Taylorism began when he was a child. Childhood friends described the meticulous "scientific" approach that he brought to their games. Before playing baseball he would insist that accurate measurements be made of the field, so that everyone would be in perfect relation. A game of croquet was a subject of careful analysis as...