The Efficient Lemon-Meringue Pie

Old, beloved myths die hard.  Our cherished history fell to Lies My Teacher Told Me, our dietary indulgences to Omnivores Dilemma, and our infallible Bible to Bart Ehrman (to name just one).

Recently we lost Where the Wild Things Are--a book read round these parts about 4,000 times to three admiring fans last century--to Spike Jonze.  (It’s a good movie but with a creepy and defeated sense that Maurice Sendak tried, I think, expressly to overcome.)

Now appears Jill Lepore, writing “Not So Fast,” in The New Yorker, about Frederick Winslow Taylor, the “Father of Scientific Management” and someone I’d pictured as the epitome of a high integrity, data-driven consultant.  In fact, Lepore looks at Taylor, as well as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (of “Cheaper by the Dozen” fame) through the lens of a modern consultant, Matthew Stewart, who debunks Taylor specifically and most consultants generally—including himself.

Modern management, it turns out, was built--at least in part--on fudged data, sleight of hand, and folks just feathering their own nests.  Their ploys ranged from cheating on the efficiency model for loading pig iron to trying to convince women that they should only walk 92 feet (and not 224) in making a lemon-meringue pie. 

This last bit of advice came from a woman who made one (and only) one dish, creamed chipped beef.  Her children referred to it as Dog’s Vomit on Toast.

Ironically, I’ve had great interactions with consultants throughout my career, including some early work at Sensitech seminal to our later success. 

Not so ironically, I liked creamed chipped beef until a minute ago.

For those of you who grew up bashing the consulting trade, however, you’ll have a field day with Lepore’s fascinating article.

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

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