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In this episode, I am joined by a very special guest, Christine Li, for a conversation I have been waiting to record for quite a while now. \n\nBackstory\n\nI am closing in on 30 years of work in Project Management and for most of that time, I, like many of you, have been talking smack about Frederick Taylor. My opinions were based on the things I learned from others along the way and were (obviously) deeply informed by moving from traditional PM over to Agile. As far as I was concerned, this guy was the birth of work misery.\n\nBut over the past few years, I\u2019ve started to develop this weird compulsion to stick up for the good bits that came out of his work. I mean, literally, no one working in project management or agile would have a job without this guy. You can also make an argument that without him the United States never would have made it through WWII. \n\nEven though I was willing to have Taylor\u2019s back in an argument, there was one thing missing\u2026 \n\nI had never actually read his work. \n\nCUE ALL THE PM SHAME!\n\nSo I did. I read The Principles of Scientific Management. And, to my shock, not only was it easy to read, but it was fun to read how this guy figured out the things he figured out. Yes, there are a few critical issues with his approach (and they are big issues), but there is a TON of good stuff in there that we all ignore because he\u2019s such an easy target.\n\n(And I really want to go back in time and get hired as SPEED BOSS)\n\nAfter reading it, I was at a lunch and happened to mention my newfound Taylor Fanboy-ness and Christine Li showed up like Yoda, deep with the PM history geek. She took me to school and that is where this conversation starts. \n\nMy hope is that even if you think Frederick Taylor is the Sauron of Project Management, you\u2019ll give this a listen. Maybe it will challenge your understanding of him and his work. Maybe it will (I hope) entice you to read his work. And even if you\u2019ve read his work and can see the good in it, the things Christine shares will level up your understanding as well. \n\nI am very grateful to her for making time for this. It was a really fun conversation. \n\nFor Further Reading\nThe Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Taylor bit.ly/3H8XtPG\nScientific Management; a History and Criticism by Horace Drury https://bit.ly/3QFhEIr\n\n\nContacting Christine\n\nWeb: https://www.sparkplugagility.com\nEmail: christine@sparkplugagility.com