Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Standardized workers would eliminate management issues by removing individuality. The quote critiques dehumanization of labor.
In plain terms
Treating workers like interchangeable parts would simplify management but removes humanity.
What can you take from it?
Standardization simplifies management but costs humanity.

Where it applies

  • workplace
  • automation
  • social critique

Putting it to work

  • evaluate efficiency costs
  • advocate for workers

Questions to consider

  • Is efficiency worth losing humanity?
  • How do you feel about standard work?

Another view

Modern management often relies on standardization for scale.

More from Jean Giraudoux

  1. Faithful women are all alike, they think only of their fidelity, never of their husbands.

    Permalink to quote #11
  2. I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life.

    Permalink to quote #13
  3. Everyone, when there's war in the air, learns to live in a new element: falsehood.

    Permalink to quote #10

Related quotes

  1. The theatre is a place where one has time for the problems of people to whom one would show the door if they came to one's office for a job.

    Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams quote #3
  2. Crash programs fail because they are based on theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a month.

    Wernher von BraunWernher von Braun quote #7
  3. If you don't know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues' initials on 'em, and pass them along. When in doubt, route.

    Malcolm ForbesMalcolm Forbes quote #14