Increasing Efficiency In Business - Walter Dill Scott (ebook reader browser .txt) 📗

is held by

many that the animals are capable of some

form of practical judgment. A much more

effective form of thought is the formation of

reflective judgments.

 

Reflective judgments

 

A practical judgment is based on a single

concrete case. A reflective judgment is based

on a generalization, an abstraction, or a principle

derived from many previous experiences.

 

Last night a salesman tried to induce me to

purchase an interest in an Idaho apple orchard.

Thereupon I recalled an instance of a friend

who a year ago had made such a purchase and

had found it a profitable investment. If on

the basis of this or some other concrete case I

<p 288>

had accepted or rejected his offer, I would have

made a practical judgment. As a matter of

fact I caused several concrete instances to

pass through my mind, made the generalization

that most professional men lose when they invest

in distant properties, and upon the basis of this

generalization made my reflective judgment

and rejected his proposition.

 

Last week on the golf links I saw a Bohemian

peasant woman wearing clothes full of small

holes. I tried to figure out how the clothing

had become so injured. I recalled seeing a

coat that had been left all summer in an attic

till it had been eaten to pieces by the moths.

On the basis of that recalled incident I satisfied

myself by means of the practical judgment

that she was wearing moth-eaten clothing. A

few days later I saw three of these women

working on one of the greens, and each of

them had on clothing full of small holes. I

began to reflect as to the cause of the holes. I

observed that each woman held a bottle in

her hand and was apparently applying the contents

of the bottle to the roots of the dandelion

<p 289>

plants. I inferred that the liquid must be

an acid. Then of all the qualities of an acid I

considered merely its corrosiveness. With

that abstraction in mind I made the reflective

judgment that the women were working with

an acid and that from time to time particles

of the acid got on their clothes and corroded

them.

 

A manager of a large manufacturing and

selling organization made a study of the conditions

affecting the prosperity of his organization.

From his observations he deduced the

principle that for him it is more important to

increase the loyalty of the men to the organization

than to reduce the apparent labor cost.

With this principle in mind he made various

reflective judgments in upbuilding his organization.

 

In these illustrations of theoretical or reflective

judgments it will be observed that no

previous single experience was in the mind of

the one forming the judgment but merely a

generalization, an abstraction, or principle.

 

The experience that is really capitalized is

<p 290>

the formation of the generalizations, abstractions,

and principles which are thereafter available

for reflective judgments and can be applied

to a multitude of novel situations but situations

in which the generalization, abstraction,

or principle is a factor.

 

The significance of reflective judgments in

increasing human efficiency was manifested

in a striking manner by the following experiment.

A group of individuals were tested

as to their ability to solve a number of mechanical

puzzles. The time required for each

individual was recorded. The subjects then described

as completely as possible how they had

solved the problem (worked the puzzle). In

some instances the subjects kept trying blindly,

till by accident they hit upon the right method.

In such cases the second and third trials might

take as long or even longer than the first trial.

If, however, the subject had in mind the right

principle or principles for solving the problems,

the time required for succeeding attempts fell

abruptly. Curve A of Figure 6 is a graphic

representation of the results of A with one of

<p 291>

the puzzles. To solve the problem the first

time required 1476 seconds. While solving

it this first time A discovered a principle upon

which success depended. The second attempt

consumed 241 seconds. While solving the

problem this second time he discovered a second

principle. With these two principles in

mind succeeding attempts were rendered rapid

and certain.

 

Another young man, B, in solving his problem.

(Chinese Rings Puzzle) succeeded after

working 1678 seconds. At the completion of

this successful attempt he had in mind no principle

for working it. The second trial was not

so successful as the first and lasted 2670

seconds. With succeeding trials he reduced

his time but not regularly and was still working

“in the dark.” His method was one of

extreme simplicity and probably not different

from the “try, try again” method employed

by animals in learning. The results of his

first ten trials are graphically shown in Curve

B of Figure 6.

 

A comparison of Figure 6 with the five

 

<p 292>

{illust. caption = FIG. 6.}

 

<p 293>

figures of Chapter X will show how rapidly increase

of efficiency is when dependent upon

judgments as contrasted with improvement

dependent upon habit.

 

A judgment once having been made may be

utilized again and again. The process of

applying these preformed judgments is known

as an intuitive or perhaps better called an expert

judgment.

 

Expert judgments

 

Just as appropriate concrete experiences determine

the nature and the range of practical

judgments, and as the formation of generalizations,

abstractions, and principles determine

the possibilities of reflective judgments, so the

actual formation of the practical and reflective

judgments determine the nature and the range

of the intuitive or expert judgments.

 

Some years ago I had a need for an attorney

to perform for me a petty service. Just

at that critical moment I met a friend who was

a lawyer. I employed him forthwith. At a

later time I needed a lawyer again, recalled my

<p 294>

former experience, and called up the same

attorney. This employing him the second

time was clearly a practical judgment. If I

have frequent need for an attorney, I shall

probably make use of my preformed practical

judgment and employ this same attorney.

This act will never become a habit, but it will

approximate more and more a habitual action,

and will seem to be performed intuitively, and

will be an illustration of an expert judgment.

 

This morning I was asked to find a cook and

man of general utility for an outing camp. I

had no preformed practical judgment which I

could apply to the case and did not even possess

a remembrance of any experience upon

which I might base a practical experience. In

such a case therefore I am not only not an

expert but I do not possess the necessary preliminary

experiences for developing such ability.

 

During the last decade I have given much

thought to this question: Does the efficiency

of one’s thinking depend at all upon the clearness

and distinctness of the mental image used

<p 295>

in the thinking? I settled the question in the

negative. The formation of this principle

(clear thinking does not depend upon clear

visual image) was an act of reflective judgment.

But now the application of this preformed

judgment has developed into an expert judgment.

Recently I was given the manuscript

of a course in psychology and asked to appraise

it. One of the chief points of the author was

to advise all business men to develop clear

visual images. In fact he asserted that clearness

of thinking was in proportion to clearness

of the visual image with which the thinking is

carried on. Without again weighing the evidence

for my principle, I applied my preformed

judgment and by means of this expert judgment

condemned the course.

 

A man is expert only in those fields in which

he has developed the appropriate habits, the

necessary, practical, and reflective judgments,

and has had some practice in applying these

judgments.

 

We find that four classes of experiences are

valuable, i.e. such experiences as result in the

<p 296>

formation of habits; such as result in practical

judgments, in reflective judgments, and in

expert judgments. Our final task is to consider

methods for increasing the probabilities

that such experiences may be secured and

utilized.

 

SECURING AND UTILIZING THESE MOST

VALUABLE EXPERIENCES

 

The conditions best adapted for procuring

and utilizing one class of these most valuable

experiences may not be the best for the other

three classes. Our final problem must therefore

be subdivided into four parts corresponding

to the four classes of valuable experience.

 

Special Conditions Favorable to Habit Formation

 

The essential condition for habit formation

is repetition with intensity of application.

The modern movement in the industrial world

known as scientific management supplies this

need for repetition by standardizing all activities

so that they will be repeated over and

<p 297>

over in identical form; and it secures the intensity

of application by means of the task and

bonus system. By these means the most

valuable experiences for habit formation are

secured and utilized.

 

The working out of this fact is so admirably

described in recent reports upon scientific

management that further description here

would be superfluous.

 

_Special Conditions Favorable to the Formation

of Practical judgments_

 

In addition to the four general conditions

discussed on pages 278 to 283@@@ the special

conditions most favorable to the formation of

practical judgments are the three following:—

 

1. The experiences most effective in arousing

practical judgments are those that are most

recent. A few days ago I purchased a piece

of real estate and was asked how I wanted the

property transferred. I replied immediately

that I wanted a warranty deed and a guarantee

policy. This was a practical judgment made

upon the basis of a recent previous experience.

<p 298>

As a matter of fact there are three distinct

methods of transferring real estate, but until

after my judgment had been made I was perfectly

oblivious of the other methods, although

I had had experience with them some years

before. Thus I utilized only my recent experience

in making my practical judgment.

 

2. Other things being equal, those experiences

are most valuable in arousing practical

judgments that have been the most frequent.

I have seen burns dressed many times and in

many ways, but most often they have been

dressed with soda and water. When I was

called upon recently to dress a burn I recalled

the method which I had seen most often and

formed a practical judgment based thereupon

and was helped out of my difficulty.

 

3. Our most vivid and intense experiences

are the ones most likely to be recalled and to

be utilized in the formation of practical judgments.

The mistakes that I have to pay for

and the deed that secured my promotion are

the experiences most fertile in the formation of

practical judgments.

 

<p 299>

_Special Conditions Favorable to the Formation

of Reflective judgments_

 

In addition to the general conditions mentioned

on page 278@@@ the special conditions favorable

for the formation of reflective judgments

are as follows:—

 

1. A theoretical education. Proverbially

schools teach generalizations, abstractions, and

principles. The scholar and the student are

compelled to practice in this most effective form

of thinking. A justifiable criticism of the

schools is that they are inclined to neglect the

lower forms of thinking—the dealing with the

concrete—in their zeal for the highest forms of

thinking. However, a school education not

only gives practice in handling generalizations,

abstractions, and principles, but it provides

the conditions necessary to stimulate the learners

to amass a useful stock of concepts that at

a later time will be used in reflective judgments.

 

2. Suggestions from others. Reflective

judgments depend upon condensed experience.

The condensation is not produced by compres-