Our latest blog, ‘Henry Gantt vs Karol Adamiecki’ suggests there was a direct connection, but not in the way most people think.

Adamiecki’s Harmonygraph and Gantt’s Charts seem to have a common root in the work of Joseph Priestley.  Bar Charts were developed in 1765 by Joseph Priestley (England, 1733-1804) in his ‘Chart of Biography’ and were picked up by William Playfair (1759-1823) in his ‘Commercial and Political Atlas’ of 1786 and similar charts were in regular use by the end of the 19^th century.  However, there is no similarity between the two sets of innovation.

However, there is a striking similarity in the management philosophy espoused byboth Gantt and Adamiecki. Both were focused on organizing the work place for efficiency, then balancing the workflows and through put by removing blockages, and then motivating the workforce.

These ideas were originated by Adamiecki, and later used by Gantt in his consultancy work. The possible connection between Gantt and Adamiecki is Walter Polakov. Polakov was born in Luga, Russian Empire, and attended High School in Moscow before studying for a mechanical engineering degree at the Royal Institute of Technology Dresden in 1902. Returning to Moscow, he studied psychology and industrial hygiene before being employed at the Tula Locomotive Works, Moscow.

These dates mean Polakov would have been studying in Dresden and working in Moscow at the time Adamiecki was publishing his ideas and Polish and Russian.  We cannot know for sure if Polakov was aware of these new concepts but it is likely.

Then, in 1906 Polakov emigrated with his family to the United States, where he was employed by the American Locomotive Company. There he met Henry Gantt, who was a consultant for the company at that time. He joined Gantt's consulting company in 1910.

For more on the links between the work of Gantt and Adamiecki see: https://mosaicprojects.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/henry-gantt-vs-karol-adamiecki/