Henry Laurence Gantt

"Whatever we do must be in accord with human nature. We cannot drive people; we must
direct their development…the general policy of the past has been to drive; but the era of
force must give way to that of knowledge, and the policy of the future will be to teach and
lead, to the advantage of all concerned." (Henry Gantt)

Gantt was born in Calvert County, Maryland. He graduated from McDonogh School in 1878
and then went on to Stevens Institute of Technology inNew Jersey.

He then worked as a teacher and draughtsman before becoming a mechanical engineer. In

1887, he joined Frederick W. Taylor in applying scientific management principles to their
work at Midvale Steel and Bethlehem Steel—working there with Taylor until 1893. In his
later career as a management consultant—following the invention of the Gantt chart—he also
designed the 'task and bonus' system of wage payment and additional measurement
methods worker efficiency and productivity.
He died two years later, but his Chart became widely used in just a few years.
Usually, bright ideas take decades to get adopted. For example, Young’s Modulus
was not accepted in the Engineering community for 50 years. In contrast, Gantt
charts became widespread in less than ten years.
The Gantt chart: Still accepted as an important management tool today, it provides a graphic
schedule for the planning and controlling of work, and recording progress towards stages of a
project. The chart has a modern variation, Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT). .