CHAPTER X

EFFICIENCY HABITS

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual.-WILLIAM JAMES.

Henry Ford and The Radiator Cap

Habit has come to be almost a term of reproach in modern business. It is associated in popular thought with defective will or with imperfect intelligence. We speak of a man's bad habits, meaning practices of personal indulgence more or less questionable in themselves which impair his effective command of such powers as he has developed. Or we speak of his business life as ruled by habit, meaning usually that his mind is no longer active, that he is working mechanically and ineffectively, or, in brief, as somewhat of an "old fogy."

This, however, is only a part of the matter, and the negative part at that. The other side, that which gets at the real nature of habit, is revealed in a story told of Henry Ford, who in transforming automobile manufacture from a “splendid adventure" into a process almost as certain as the tides, has taught us all the lesson of standardization and habit-and incidentally amassed millions of dollars as part of his personal reward.

A prominent consulting engineer once spent a day with Mr. Ford to discuss certain engineering problems. He noticed that during every spare moment of the morning Mr. Ford kept taking from his pocket a radiator cap and was apparently engaged in some calculation regarding it. On inquiry he learned that the part was of brass and cost half a cent too much to build. He suggested threading it in a slightly dif

ferent way, to which Mr. Ford replied: "Yes, that would be cheaper, but whenever the water boiled it would get hot and bind." To several other suggestions which he ventured, Mr. Ford immediately pointed out some difficulty, whereupon he realized that his host had studied the problems involved far beyond any suggestions he might be able to make. During the afternoon Mr. Ford continued to give his attention at odd moments to the cap, devoting several hours to its consideration. That evening the engineer remarked: “I cannot understand how this small part, costing two or three cents at the most, can be worth so much of your time. It is only a fourth or half a cent that you can save in each piece."

"Yes, that is true," Mr. Ford replied, "but I am not thinking of one radiator cap. We shall need one on each of 185,ooo cars this year, besides 25,000 for repairs. That makes 210,000 for this year. We will make at least 50 per cent more cars next year. There is a saving of $2,500, and when we get it settled it will be right for the next twenty years."

Justifiable Expenditure

The point of this story comes at the end. "Planning" that cap cost some hours, perhaps, of the time of a highly expensive man-an extravagance taken by itself. But the expenditure was justifiable because once the operation was worked out it could be made a matter of indefinite repetition at a cost virtually negligible. Before it was thoroughly standardized, there was need from time to time of tinkering and rearrangement by other upper officials-which was expensive. Now it was "right for twenty years" and no one had to think about it.

Habit does essentially the same thing for the individual's work, for the executive's personal routine. It transforms what is scientifically accurate into what is commercially practicable.

In reality, therefore, habit represents the essential part of standardization. Standardization, we have seen, includes the planning of a process, etc., perhaps at the cost of much time, thought, money; and also dispatching it—carrying through the operations determined upon-perhaps at the cost of intense effort of will. But there must follow repetition of the new activity without change an indefinite number of times—that is to say, the process must become automatic, unforgettable, a

habit.

The third stage is of vital importance to the practical man. Without it standardization would be merely a pompous and expensive way of doing what could be done perhaps as well by one swift guess. With it the improved method, the process which has been proved right becomes a permanent possession-more efficient and more profitable with every repetition. The profit from a standardized operation does not begin to come until the operation has become a matter of course—a habit. After that point the costs go steadily down and the profits increase.

The Nervous System a Business Organization

Consider a little the way in which the human mind works, or rather the structure and functions of the nervous system on which the working of the mind depends. Formidable psychological discussions in highly technical language may well leave the business man's mind confused and impatient with the whole subject. Yet psychology means nothing more than knowing how the mind works. Understanding its principles enables one to get better service from his own mind-his nervous apparatus.

The nervous system, as we call it, extends throughout the body. (See Figure 22.) Its various parts are composed of tiny plastic cells, which strike each other and rebound when messages those from the outside are called sensations-are

passed along. Study of the system and its operation will show in the first place its curious resemblance to the organization of an active business house, with subordinates, subexecutives, general manager, etc.

The first impressions or sensations-messages-from the

Figure 22. Brain and Spinal Cord, with the Thirty-one Pairs

of Spinal Nerves

(Reproduced from Doty's "Prompt Aid to the Injured," by permission of D. Appleton & Company)

outside come through the organs of sight, taste, smell, feeling, and hearing to the nerves. The nerves may be compared to the telephone and telegraph wires, the railroads, and the mails, which keep a business organization in touch with its materials and markets.

But these impressions or sensations do not travel very far along the nerves towards headquarters until they meet a little nerve knot, or ganglion, which passes upon their message. If it is of a routine sort merely, the ganglion decides the matter itself, just as an office boy might under similar circumstances. A message of higher sort goes on by the ganglion and quickly reaches the medulla oblongata.

The medulla oblongata rests at the top of the spinal cord, as a sort of clearing house for automatic and semi-automatic actions. While it is of higher rank than the myriad ganglia, its functions are very much the same. It might be referred to as the chief of the routine department. Certain messages and orders are too important for dispatch by the medulla, of course, and these are passed on to the cerebellum.

The cerebellum is the "little brain" lying just above the medulla, yet still far back and low in the brain case or skull. It has charge of the voluntary muscles, that is, over those which operate under the direction of our will. The beating of the heart goes on whether we think of it or not, but when we sign a contract the cerebellum directs the muscles. In general, the cerebellum might be called the seat of the action department.

The cerebrum, crowning the nervous system both in size and function, acts as general manager in the nervous organization. It fills almost all the brain case. Just as the most important messages and orders come finally to the general manager, so the main business of the mind, its general policy so to speak, is transacted in the cerebrum.

Habit is Standardized Nerve Action

It is a striking feature of the business organization of the mind that work is constantly being shifted, as it becomes familiar, from the higher faculties to the lower ones. The first time a certain action is performed, such as braking