20: The Division of Labor

While the division of labor for the performance of physical tasks is simple to apprehend, Babbage also mentions the ability to divide a mental task among multiple workers, if the task be divisible in a manner that permits it.

There is an extended description of a project by which the French government meant to institute the decimal (metric) system, which it had been eager to adopt since it was contrived during the first French republic in the late eighteenth century - yet the public stubbornly clung to the older multiple older systems of measurement. This would require the creation of a pamphlet containing mathematical tables that could be used in commerce to easily convert to the desired new system.

This task lent itself easily to division, as a separate mathematician could convert one measurement (weight, length, volume, temperature) of one system (Carolingian, imperial, etc.) into metrics - and by separating the work thus, many minds could be applied to produce the pamphlet in short order. (EN: Naturally, he goes into painstaking detail and shows many specific examples of their work - which is entirely excessive.)

He then provides an example of a team of engineers devising and industrial machine: once a general idea of parts and their interfaces is derived, the work of designing each part (gears that drive a lever, a hopper that is filled and emptied, etc.) may be worked upon by a different engineer - so long as each understands the total function and how the part he is designing must interface with other parts.

(EN: And this is so often overlooked in the modern age, in which inept leaders throw a team of people on a task without providing sufficient guidance and expecting them to somehow figure out what to do to work together.)

As with physical labor, mental labor cannot be divided unless there exists a great demand for its produce: a simple task is best handled by one person, as the coordination necessary to enable a team to work together exceeds the effort saved and lack of coordination makes a shambles of their work.

He gives a little thought to the fact that division of mental and physical work can be done in a business operation. Not only must workers handle different parts of a task, but someone must first coordinate their practices to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. That is, the working of a pin-making operation is not the result of a group of workers organizing themselves, but of a manager who designs the workflow, and it can be improved over time by managers who oversee different parts of the workflow and take note of inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.