Planning for Success: Gustav GroÃmannâs Method of Self-Rationalization as an Economic Theory of Behavior

Ralph KÃ¶hnen

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Chapter 13 Planning for Success: Gustav GroÃmannâs Method of Self-Rationalization as an Economic Theory of Behavior

In: Self-Optimization in Modernist Culture

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Ralph KÃ¶hnen

Ralph KÃ¶hnen
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 277â306

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004720701_015

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Abstract

This chapter examines Gustav GroÃmannâs overlooked self-help book, Sich selbst rationalisieren: Wesen und Praxis der Vorbereitung persÃ¶nlichen und beruflichen Erfolgs (The Formula for Success: The Grossmann Method of Self-Rationalization, 1927). Positioned at the intersection of contemporary industrial, economic, philosophical, and psychological discourses, the bestselling book offered white-collar workers practical advice for personal and professional improvement. By tracing its central argument that meticulous planning and self-monitoring through diary entries will lead to self-optimization, this chapter situates GroÃmannâs book within the larger context of the rationalization and standardization of work performance (Taylorism & Fordism) while also considering it in relation to seminal cultural critiques of modernity (MÃ¼nsterberg & Kracauer).

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Self-Optimization in Modernist Culture

Series:Â Literary Modernism, Volume: 9

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004720701

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 03 Jun 2025

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies

Front Matter

Part 1 The Self

Part 2 Emotions and Nerves

Part 3 Body and Gender

Part 4 The Technology of Self-Optimization

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Chapter 13 Planning for Success: Gustav GroÃmannâs Method of Self-Rationalization as an Economic Theory of Behavior

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Self-Optimization in Modernist Culture

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Chapter 13 Planning for Success: Gustav GroÃmannâs Method of Self-Rationalization as an Economic Theory of Behavior