Cheaper by the Dozen describes a humorous, domestic application of scientific management, a highly influential early 20th-century theory of industrial efficiency. Developed by engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor, scientific management aimed to improve economic productivity by analyzing and standardizing workflows. Most approaches revolved around maximizing the efficiency of the workspace, streamlining procedures, and eliminating obstacles to smooth process.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were pioneers in this field, specializing in motion study, a methodology focused on eliminating wasted physical movements to reduce worker fatigue and increase output. Their typical approach was matching workspace layout and worker movements, thus speeding up any work involving repetitive motions, such as assembly line manufacturing, secretarial duties, or maintenance. According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the Gilbreths used innovative tools like motion-picture cameras and process charts to break down tasks into fundamental motions they called “therbligs” (a term derived by reversing their last name) (“Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Collection.” National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution). 

The memoir directly showcases these professional techniques applied at home. For instance, Frank’s use of two shaving brushes to “cut seventeen seconds off his shaving time” (3) is a direct reflection of his industrial method. Similarly, the installation of “process and work charts in the bathrooms” (2) and the use of language records during “unavoidable delay” (39) treat the home as a laboratory for optimization. The book’s most striking example is Frank’s filming of surgeries to reduce ether time, demonstrating how the family’s eccentric domestic experiments were extensions of a serious, real-world effort to systematize and improve human labor, from the factory floor to the operating room.