Classified material is easier to remember than is unclassified material. This statement is so obvious that one would assume everyone knows it. A writer, we should suppose, in preparing a book for publication organizes his material as logically as possible, just as a student bent on studying brings his material into some sort of order. A glance at our literature, however, and a few questions put to students or apprentices show that this theoretical recognition of a trite statement is not actually carried out in practice.

Let us try an experiment with a simple example. Look at the following illustration, which shows twelve objects. Study it for a while and then put the book aside and try to recall all twelve objects.

When you have finished this exercise, consider the second illustration. You will find it shows exactly the same objects, this time arranged in four groups. Each group contains three objects which have been selected because they have a general relationship among themselves.

bottle                                           cigarette box
glass                                            cigarette lighter
doily                                            ash tray
magazine                                     pen
newspaper                                   pencil
book                                           eraser

As you will readily concede, the time it takes to memorize the objects in the second illustration is less than half the time required for memorizing those in the first, even though there are twelve objects in each drawing and even though the twelve objects are the same in both pictures.

And the principle which is valid for these simple objects is also valid for the complicated matters of business life. I would even go a step further and assert that the more difficult and complex the affairs of a business which we would like to have at our fingertips, the more desirable it is to make such groupings and sub-groupings. We call this grouping classification.
Here are a few examples from various kinds of businesses which I have selected at random from technical books:

For the lumber industry there is, for instance, a handbook entitled Tested Selling Methods. In this booklet the methods which make the selling of construction material easier and more profitable are presented and illustrated clearly and well. A primer in the same field is published in Washington. From these two books I see that the lumber dealer who estimates on the construction of a house must set up certain specifications which have the following basic elements:

Exterior walls                            Windows
Framing                                    Doors
Roofing                                    Closets
Interior walls                             Insulation
Flooring                                    Heating equipment
Millwork                                  Plumbing

Naturally these specifications are familiar to the lumber dealer. But we are not concerned with those persons who have already reached the top rung of the ladder in their field, but with the man who is still at the bottom and who must absorb into his memory the knowledge he needs to advance. For such an individual the sequence we are concerned with is not an easy one to retain. So let us try grouping and sub-grouping this material.

To begin with, every house consists of the following parts: outside, inside, and accessories. The outside consists of the exterior walls, framing, and roofing. The inside includes the interior walls, flooring, and millwork; and, as accessories, heating and plumbing equipment. We group windows, doors, and closets under the heading of millwork. Thus, without effort, we get the following table:

OUTSIDE                                INSIDE                       ACCESSORIES
Exterior walls                            Interior walls                 Plumbing
Framing                                    Flooring                        Insulation
Roofing                                    Millwork                      Heating equipment
Windows
Doors
Closets

As you see, the task of remembering has been made considerably easier by the aid of this classification. Using the table rather than simple enumeration makes an overall comprehension of the specifications much easier. We now have four groups, each of which consists of three items. Even the person who has no possible interest in the lumber industry can make a simple test to prove to himself how easy it is to remember such a grouping. Try it. After a few days during which you have not thought about the subject, see if you can reconstruct the table. You will be surprised at the ease with which you can enumerate all twelve items without a single mistake.

And here is another example, likewise dealing with the lumber industry:

The Dealer Relations Division of the Johns-Manville Corporation issued a manual called Net Profit Guide and Operating Chart for Retail Lumber and Building Material Executives. According to the preface this book, unique of its kind, "identifies charts, and implements those principles, policies, and techniques of building material retailing which have demonstrated repeatedly their net profit producing power." It is the result of several years of research work and was prepared for the exclusive benefit of executives attending the Johns-Manville Housing Guild Management Institutes. Through the kind permission of this firm, I quote the excerpts, which follow.

In this book "the ten major elements of net profit have been segregated into ten divisions, and these divisions have been listed in the proper sequence for most effective action." From this material, assembled and thoroughly tested through long years of experience, I choose pages 29-31 at random and find there a section called "Getting the Most from Operating Man-Power":

1. I will check full and proper use of time by all employees.

2. I will provide a job analysis and responsibility chart for each operating employee.

3. I will establish timing, co-ordination and correlation in my employees' work.

4. I will train employees in more effective techniques in their work.

5. I will review my compensation policies and make adjustments which will tend to increase efficiency.

6. I will install incentives to greater sales and profits wherever possible among my operating employees.

7. I will co-ordinate the training of my operating employees with my continuous training of sales employees.

8. I will check the honesty of every employee handling cash and will notify my whole organization that this is being done frequently.

9. I will take a personal interest in each employee and evidence it occasionally.
 
10. I will have consistent policies on promotions, vacations, layoffs and dismissals and will acquaint the organization with what they may expect.

11. I will assure myself that every employee is sales-conscious and productive.

12. I will weed out the misfits in my organization as rapidly as possible and replace them with effective man-power.

13. I will analyze the detailed work of myself and other executives and will delegate to less costly personnel all details that they can handle effectively.

14. If necessary details are burdensome (and therefore not handled correctly), I will hire an apprentice boy or girl to handle many of them.

15. I will assign specific responsibility for orderliness and cleanliness of plant as well as janitor service to one individual.

Excellent though this section may be from the standpoint of business advice, it falls short when viewed from the angle of classification, because these fifteen points are very difficult to remember in the sequence in which they are presented. Then, too, since the section is concerned throughout with things which the personnel manager of the firm should always bear in mind, and since it is a mere fraction of a book whose complete contents he is to remember, an orderly classification is doubly desirable.

I suggest that you yourself attempt such a classification. See if you can group several of the fifteen points under a single heading. Try to find three or four (but no more) main headings and then see if you can organize the fifteen points under those main headings. Only after you have made this attempt yourself should you look at my table, which follows. Decide which you like better, and whether or not you want to make any changes in yours or mine.

I should like to add that any classification you yourself make is bound to be more helpful to your memory. Memory works, as we have proved repeatedly, in a manner more or less peculiar to each individual, and therefore you can retain better the material which you yourself have classified than a classification furnished by someone else.

The following table shows the classification which I suggested. The numbers in parentheses after each line point to the number of the original sequence as printed above. I have not made any intentional changes in the material itself, and the condensations in phraseology as used in my classification should not be construed as a desire to change the meaning of the original statements.

I. The right man in the right job

1) Job analysis and responsibility chart (2)
2) Analyze the work of executives and delegate some of it to less costly personnel (13)
3) If necessary, hire apprentices (14)
4) Weed out the misfits (12)
5) Check honesty (8)

II. Training employees
6) Train employees in more effective techniques (4)
7) Check full and proper use of time (1)
8) Time and co-ordinate the work of employees (3)
9) Co-ordinate the training of operating employees with the training of sales employees (7)
10) Be sure that every employee is sales-conscious and productive (11)
11) Assume responsibility for orderliness and cleanliness (15)

III. Compensation
12) Review compensation policies (5)
13) Install incentives to greater sales (6)
14) Have consistent policies for promotion, etc. (10)
15) Take a personal interest in each employee (nonmaterial compensation) (9) The irrefutable logic of this classification is proved by the following sentences, in which the numbers in parentheses refer to my grouping and not to the original extract:

I. The Right Man in the Right Job

The basic essential of good management is job analysis; that is, a study of each job and what work it entails (1). This analysis will distribute details hitherto performed by executives among employees who are paid smaller salaries (2), and some of the work of these latter may then be delegated to apprentices (3). Misfits are to be discharged (4) and the honesty of all who remain in the firm's employ is to be checked periodically (5).

II. Training Employees

Employees are to be trained in the most effective techniques (6), and care should be taken that their working hours are used to the best advantage of the company (7). The work of all employees is to be co-ordinated (8); likewise, the training of all operating employees is to be coordinated with the training of sales employees (9). Every employee shall be sales-conscious and productive (10) and orderly and presentable (11).

III. Compensation

Compensation policies are to be checked periodically (12) and incentives to greater sales and profits introduced (13). Promotions, vacations, lay-offs, and dismissals shall be just and fair (14). In order to gauge the worth of each individual employee fairly, a personal interest in his welfare is essential (15).
If you are convinced that such classification is quite simple to commit to memory, you will not hesitate to introduce it in your own line of business or, should you be an employee, to apply it to any matter which you must bear in mind.

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