The Factory of the Future Will Have Only Two Employees, a Man and a Dog

Warren Bennis? Fred Lamond? Jerry L. Benefield? British Post Office Engineering Union? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: A humorous and cautionary prediction states that the automated factory of the future will have only two employees: one human and one dog:

• The human feeds the dog.
• The dog makes sure no one touches the equipment.

This notion has been attributed to Professor of Business Administration Warren Bennis and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the trade journal “Datamation” in 1978. Journalist Fred Lamond noted that the development of increasingly powerful microprocessors was facilitating new types automation. Lamond published a wry joke circulating in Britain:^[1]1978 November 1, Datamation, Volume 24, Number 11, Europeans Blame Computers by Fred Lamond, Start Page 107, Quote Page 107 and 110, Technical Publishing Company: A Dunn and Bradstreet Company, … Continue reading

“How many people are required to maintain a new System X electronic exchange?” runs a rather bitter joke in the British Post Office Engineering Union. Answer: “A man and a dog.” “What does the man do?” “Feed the dog.” “What does the dog do?” “Make damn sure neither the man nor anybody else gets his fingers on the equipment.”

Lamond did not provide a precise attribution. Thus, droll remark is difficult to trace because of its variability. Currently, the creator remains anonymous. Warren Bennis did employ this joke in 1988 and 1989, but he disclaimed authorship as indicated further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 1979 the “Datamation” article was reprinted in the “Minneapolis Tribune” of Minnesota.^[2] 1979 February 21, Minneapolis Tribune, Europeans expect automation to accelerate by Fred Lamond (From Datamation magazine), Quote Page 7A, Column 3 and 4, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Newspapers_com) Thus, the jest achieved further circulation.

In 1983 “The Age” newspaper of Melbourne, Australia printed an anonymous instance within an article titled “Invasion of the robots”:^[3] 1983 November 5, The Age, Section: Saturday Extra, Invasion of the robots, Quote Page 4, Column 8, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Newspapers_com)

The old joke about the factory of the future needing one man and a dog—the dog to guard the factory and the man to feed the dog—is becoming reality.

In 1987 “The Guardian” newspaper of London printed the following instance attributed to an anonymous U.S. wit:^[4]1987 June 27, The Guardian, Chicago Notebook: From the Windy City … a cool look at the white hot technology of the future by Mark Milner, Quote Page 20, Column 1, London, England. … Continue reading

The factory of the future, according to an American wag, will have a staff of just two, a man and a dog. The man’s job will be to feed his canine colleague, the dog’s job will be to make sure the man never touches the machines.

In 1989 “The Manager’s Book of Quotations” included an entry for the quotation crediting Warren Bennis. The accompanying citation was dated 1988:^[5]1989, The Manager’s Book of Quotations by Lewis D. Eigen and Jonathan P. Siegel, Chapter 6: Computers & Robots, Quote Page 62, Column 1, AMACON: American Management Association, New York. … Continue reading

The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.

Warren G. Bennis
President, University of Cincinnati
University of Maryland symposium,
January 21, 1988

Also, in 1989 Warren Bennis published “On Becoming a Leader”, and he included an instance but disclaimed credit:^[6]1989, On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis, Chapter 9: Organizations Can Help — or Hinder, Quote Page 174, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts. (Verified with scans; Internet … Continue reading

The most significant invention of the last fifty years is the integrated circuit. Forty workers can now produce what it once took twelve hundred workers to produce. Someone said that factories of the future will be run by a man and a dog. The man’s role will be to feed the dog. The dog’s role will be to prevent the man from touching the machinery.

In 1992 the “Fort Worth Star-Telegram” of Texas credited Bennis with an instance which matched the version in “The Manager’s Book of Quotations”.^[7] 1992 September 6, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Quote, Section J, Quote Page 1, Column 5, Fort Worth, Texas. (Newspapers_com)

In 1994 Jerry L. Benefield, CEO of Nissan in Smyrna, Tennessee, delivered a graduation address at Middle Tennessee State University, and he used an instance:^[8] 1994 December 18, The Daily News-Journal, Keep learning, enjoy your job, says Nissan head by Byron Hensley (Staff writer), Quote Page 1, Column 2, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Newspapers_com)

Benefield joked that future factories might have only two employees, a man and a dog to keep the man away from the instruments.

In 2003 a book about Digital Equipment Corporation titled “DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC” included the following:^[9]2003, DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation by Edgar H. Schein with Peter DeLisi, Paul Kampas, and Michael Sonduck, Part One: The Creation of a Culture of … Continue reading

In the ideal organization everything is automated so that people cannot screw it up. There is a joke that says it all. A plant is being managed by one man and one dog. It is the job of the man to feed the dog, and it is the job of the dog to keep the man from touching the equipment.

In conclusion, the earliest citation in 1978 stated that the joke was circulating in the British Post Office Engineering Union. Hence, it’s origin remains anonymous. Warren Bennis included an instance in his 1989 book “On Becoming a Leader”, but he prefaced it with the phrase “someone said”. Bennis deserves credit for helping to popularize the joke.

(Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.)

Image Notes: Public domain image of two robots standing on a planet with a moon backdrop from kellepics at Pixabay.