As James says, in the “Psychology, Briefer Course,” page 156, paragraph 4,—­“It is obvious and palpable that our state of mind is never precisely the same.  Every thought we have of a given fact is, strictly speaking, unique and only bears a resemblance of kind with our other thoughts of the same facts.  When the identical fact recurs we must think of it in a fresh manner, see it under a somewhat different angle, apprehend it in different relations from those in which it last appeared.”

THE STANDARD THE RESULT OF MEASUREMENT.—­It is obvious, therefore, that a scientifically derived standard can never be the outcome of an opinion.  Whenever the opinion returns, the different thoughts with which it would be accompanied would so color it as to change it, and the standard with it.  It is obvious, therefore, that a standard must be the result of definite mathematical and other measured proof, and not of an opinion, and that the standard must be in such physical shape that the subject-matter will always be clearly defined, otherwise the ultimate losses resulting from dependent sequences of the standard schedule and time-tables would be enormous.

SUCCESSFUL STANDARDIZATION DEMANDS COMPLETE CONFORMITY TO STANDARDS.—­The laws for establishment of standards; the laws of achieving them; the laws for preventing deviations from those paths that will permit of their achievement; the dependent sequences absolutely necessary to perform the complete whole; these have been worked out and given to the world by Dr. Taylor, who recognized, as James has said, page 157, that, “a permanently existing ‘Idea’ which makes its appearance before the footlights of consciousness at periodic intervals, is as mythological an entity as the Jack of Spades.”  The entire organization from the highest to the lowest must conform to these standards.  It is out of the question to permit the deviations resulting from individual initiative.  Individual initiative is quite as objectionable in obtaining the best results,—­that is, high wages and low production cost,—­as service would be on a railroad if each locomotive engineer were his own train despatcher, determining at what time and to what place he would go.

INITIATIVE PROVIDED FOR.—­There is a distinct place for initiative in Scientific Management, but that place is not outside of the planning department, until the planning department’s method has been proved to be fully understood by achieving it.  The standards must be made by the men to whom this work is assigned, and they must be followed absolutely by the worker.  He is willing to follow them, under Scientific Management, because he realizes that a place for his suggestions is supplied, and that, if his suggestions are accepted, they will be incorporated into the new standards which must then be followed by all thereafter.