Is your structure Taylor's or Deming's
A hundred-year-old argument about who gets to decide, still running under your org chart.
Frederick Winslow Taylor argued structure should serve efficiency and control: orders flow down, nothing flows back. W. Edwards Deming argued the opposite: direction flows down, but frontline insight has to flow back up.
Most companies run some blend of both, usually without realizing they are choosing. Ten paired tells score which one is actually running yours.
The point is not structure for its own sake. Knowledge workers need autonomy, mastery, and purpose to do good work, not more supervision.
What you get
- Ten paired Taylor-tell versus Deming-tell statements, scored on a simple scale
- A short diagnostic read on what mostly-Taylor scores actually mean
- A prompt for naming one decision to move down this week, and to whom
Where should we send it?
One email with the worksheet. You can unsubscribe from anything else in one click.
On its way
Check your inbox. If it has not landed in a minute or two, look in promotions or spam, and add sam@startuppatterns.com to your contacts so the rest arrive.
Adapted from the Organization chapter of The Mindful Product Company by Sam McAfee.