Career choice: Taylorism or tailorism

If you have read this far, congratulations! To explore a piece with such an abstract title suggests that you score high on curiosity, an essential survival trait.

Let me explain what I mean by first defining the terms:

Taylorism – This is also known as the Scientific Management. It was developed in the late nineteenth century as an approach to making organisations more efficient. In this model the system trumps the workers. Workers are merely cogs in the machine.

Tailorism – This is a term I just made up to define a person who regards themselves as a tailor in terms of how they approach their work. Tailors have strong technical skills, pay attention to detail, are excellent communicators, are conscious of trends and have a commitment to quality.

Dead or working?

So the career choice I am referring to is this: Would you rather be a soulless cog, who after a while could still do their job whilst having a stroke; a technology placeholder simply waiting for the tap on the shoulder from your robot replacement? Or would you prefer to be a craftsman whose work is a timeless expression of their skill and humanity?

Industrial society has a preference. If you are a standard cog, you are likely to have employment options. You will likely remain employed, as long as you have a frictionless work ethic. At least until your role is automated or a younger, hungrier cog is willing to do your work for less. This is perhaps not a concern if you can move up the career ladder and become a cog administrator, ie a manager. This is the ideal position for those who enjoy making others behave in a manner that goes against their human nature.

Too much like hard work

Becoming a tailor is not something you can master through a quick Udemy course. It follows a path more akin to the medieval guild model: apprentice, journeyman, then master. It demands time, dedication, and cognitive effort. No two days are the same.

There is no pressure to move into management. Unlike ‘industrial model’ work with its focus on efficiency, the workers enjoy their work and so are not focused on doing as little as possible for a pre-agreed salary. Consequently they do not need management.

Standard versus standards

For clarification, I should point out that your options are not to a) work for a big organisation or b) become a tailor. Tailorism is a mindset. It is the standards that you hold yourself to regardless of the standards imposed on you. Like a tailor, you are great with people, conscious of trends, have an attention to detail and take pride in your work, as your work is an expression of who you really are.

My way

Thus you can be a tailor in a large organisation, where for the most part you are locked in to adhering to the standard operating manual. Look for opportunities to add value above the minimum acceptable standards regardless of how badly you are paid. You can add personal flourishes by the way you engage with co-workers, by spellchecking your emails or by arriving early and energised for your online meetings. Some traditional roles will give you even more latitude to show the world who you really are.

The reality is that the game is up if you are a cog worker. Some of us will get over the line before we are swapped out by new technology, or before our organisation goes the way of the dinosaurs. In any case, I would encourage you to take ownership of the quality of your work and explore career options that enable you to spend more time in tailor-mode rather than Taylor mode.

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