IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN DISCIPLINING.—­Not only does the position of disciplinarian under Scientific Management answer the psychological requirements for such a function, but also the holder of the position of disciplinarian must understand psychology and apply, at least unconsciously, and preferably consciously, the known laws of psychology, if he wishes to be successful.

The disciplinarian must consider not only what the man has done and the relation of this act of his to his other acts; he must also investigate the cause and the motive of the act, for on the cause and motive, in reality, depends more than on the act itself.  He must probe into the physical condition of the man, as related to his mental acts.  He must note the effect of the same kind of discipline under different conditions; for example, he must note that, on certain types of people, disciplining in the presence of other people has a most derogatory effect, just as rewards before people may have a most advantageous effect.  Upon others, discipline that is meted out in the presence of other people is the only sort of discipline which has the desired effect.  The sensitiveness of the person to be disciplined, the necessity for sharp discipline, and for that particular sort of discipline which may require the element of shame in it, must all be considered.  He must be able to discover and note whether the discipline should be meted out to a ringleader, and whether the other employes, supposed to be blameworthy, are really only guilty in acquiescing, or in failing to report one who has really furnished the initiative.  He must differentiate acts which are the result of following a ringleader blindly from the concerted acts of disobedience of a crowd, for the “mob spirit” is always an element to be estimated and separately handled.

INADEQUACY OF TERMS IN DISCIPLINING.—­The words “disciplinarian” and “punishment” are most unfortunate.  The “Disciplinarian” would be far better called the “peacemaker,” and the “punishment” by some such word as the “adjustment.”  It is not the duty of the disciplinarian to “take out anybody’s grudge” against a man; it is his duty to adjust disagreements.  He must remember constantly that his discipline must be of such a nature that the result will be for the permanent best interests of the one disciplined, his co-workers, his associates and his family.

The aim is, not to put the man down, but to keep him up to his standard, as will be shown later in a chapter on Incentives.  If the punishment is in the form of a fine, it must not in any way return to the coffers of the management.  The fines collected—­even those fines collected from the individuals composing the management, should go in some form to the benefit of the men themselves, such, for example, as contributions to a workman’s sick benefit fund or to general entertainment at the annual outing of employes.  In practice, the disciplinarian is rather the friend of the worker than of the employer, if the two interests can possibly be separated.  Again “penalty” is a bad word to use.  Any words used in this connection should preferably have had taken from them any feeling that personal prejudice affects the discipline.  It is the nature of the offense itself which should prescribe what the outcome of it shall be.