Industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor was particularly rude in his recommendation that jobs be kept simple. He argued that the characteristics of lower-level workers were such that they should be assigned very limited decision rights and a narrow set of tasks. While certainly crude by today's standards, Taylor recognized that

simple task assignment may improve overall productivity.

simple task assignment is always dehumanizing.

broad task assignment eliminates the need for coordination.

broad task assignment is necessary for complex jobs.