Who the hell is Elliott Jaques?

The following is a summary of a presentation to the Emerald Executive Association (of which I’m a member) written by EEA executive director Lindy Moore. As Lindy recounts below, the presentation was by Charley Coury of 9Wood, which makes it relevant to readers of this blog. 9Wood is well-known to architects because the company engineers and manufactures high-quality, custom suspended wood ceiling systems. 9Wood is a home-grown success story. Based in Springfield, it more than holds its own competing with such heavy hitters as Armstrong Ceilings and Rulon International. 9Wood’s portfolio boasts award-winning installations throughout the United States and Canada. The company is a favorite among architects because it makes a point of being involved as early as possible in the design process. 9Wood treats every project as unique and truly engineers to-order. The end result are wood ceiling systems that fulfill the architect’s design intent in every respect. 

A deficit of free time continues to hamper my blogging, so I’m thankful I can share Lindy’s writeup. Among other things, she’ll help explain what the title of this blog post has to do with Charley Coury and 9Wood. Read on: 

Emerald Executive Association Meeting 3-14-19

We had a really fascinating program this morning from Charley Coury, President and General Manager of 9Wood. 9Wood is a wood ceiling manufacturer of custom, suspended wood ceilings. Charley told us that rather than talk about 9Wood, he was going to answer the question, “Who the hell is Elliott Jaques?” But first he thought we might want to know who the hell Charley Coury is. 

Charley has a degree in anthropology but really wanted to be a missionary. He did missionary work in Africa for seven years and when he returned home to Oregon he realized he needed a job. He had roots in the wine making/microbrewery enterprise because his father was a pioneer in both industries, but Charley ended up in the ceiling business instead. 9Wood has a wonderful history. The company’s products can be seen at the ceilings of the Hult Center and the Eugene Airport, to name just two local projects. 

After a time, Charley took on management of Human Resources for 9Wood. He found it a challenge to motivate his employees, to make their lives better, more productive, happier, and still keep control of the expenses. He found the answer about ten years ago on his way back from a business trip to Qatar. Charley began reading a book (Requisite Organization) written by a man named Elliott Jaques (b.1917 d. 2003) and was immediately impressed. Many think Jaques was one of the most brilliant and innovative management philosophers of our time. Jaques devoted his life to organizational management. 

Charley Coury

Jaques sought to answer the question of why people get paid different wages. Why does the production worker on the floor get paid so much less than the supervisor? Jaques came up with the answer: There are two ways of thinking about the nature of work. All work has “prescription” (not breaking the law, making money for the company and the shareholders, etc.) There is also “discretion,” the ability to make wise decisions on your own. Every job has prescription and some level of discretion. Every employee makes decisions, solves problems, and provides feedback to his or her company in some form or another. 

Jaques came up with the idea of time and the “time span of discretion.” This is the longest time horizon a person can effectively work into the future, without direction, using their own discretionary judgment to achieve a specific goal. 

Charley provided an example to illustrate this principle. He gave one of 9Wood’s supervisors the job of improving the accuracy of their wood staining information. Every once in a while, there was a problem with staining, which led to the use of the incorrect color. The result was the client rejecting the work, necessitating re-staining of the wood. Charley made the assignment very clear. He and the supervisor talked about it, reiterating goals. Charley directed him to solve this information problem. In other words, he told the supervisor to take the ball and run with it. 

It’s typical for employees to come to Charley for advice and for Charley to check in on them. Such an assignment can take several months to execute. It may involve going outside one’s own department: meeting with engineers, the sales department, design personnel, production workers, and department managers to influence their behavior, to show leadership and to figure everything out. The tasks are not always simple, but Charley will not take the ball back unless it becomes clear the job is too big for the supervisor. If the supervisor does get everything accomplished and solves the problem, he or she will have carried the ball over the line (Charley’s words). 

Elliott Jaques also developed theories about Differential Pay and Felt Fair Pay, to wit: Those paid fairly at their level feel satisfied. Those paid below their level feel frustrated. Those paid above their level, privately feel insecurely favored. 

Charley said that if an employee at 9Wood wants to advance in the company he or she can go to Charley and tell him they want to go up one level. He can tell them unequivocally what is expected of them at that higher level and what the pay would be if they achieve it. It’s the same information he gives to any employee seeking advancement. He admits it becomes much more freeing and hopeful to offer clarity to the individuals and a fair and equitable way to conduct business. He gives the same speech to everyone, no matter what the level they start at may be. 

This was a truly inspirational morning. One of the reasons Charley was so passionate about Jaques’ book is that he learned that if you want to lead, you have to read. With Jaques’ books, he believes he hit the jackpot. Charley confessed he was not a very good reader but he’s taught himself to improve his reading “muscle” and he now compares reading to inhaling a beautiful perfume. Not unlike the atmosphere at the Steelhead this morning. Our sincere thanks to Charley Coury! 

About Elliott Jaques

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Elliott Jaques was educated at the University of Toronto and studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University before receiving his Ph.D. in social relations from Harvard University, and then qualification as a psychoanalyst at the British Psychoanalytical Society. He was a founding fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain and was a Visiting Professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and Honorary Professor of the University of Buenos Aires. 

During the Second World War, Jaques served as a Major in the Canadian Army where in collaboration with Henry Murray of Harvard University used his education and training to establish the Canadian War Office Selection Boards. He was assigned as liaison to the British Army War Office Psychiatry Division, which in turn developed its own War Office Selection Boards. 

After the war Jaques remained in England and qualified under Austrian-British psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. She highly appreciated his help in preparation for the publication of her book, Narrative of a Child Analysis (1961). Jaques also helped Klein to edit the manuscript of Envy and Gratitude (1957), evidence suggests that it was Jaques who suggested that the word "gratitude" should be included in the title of the book. He was a founding member, in 1946, of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. In 1964, he founded the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University London and served as its Professor and Head of School.

Dr. Jaques moved from London to Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1991. He became a research professor at George Washington University. In 1999 Jaques established Requisite Organization International Institute, operating as an educational and research group. 

As a result of his work with different corporations, governments and U.S. Army, Jaques developed scientific process that allows to evaluate potential capability of individuals in the context of time-span of discretion, instrument which measures work complexity in each role within the organization. This approach has been used by US armed services and large public and private organizations around the world. In 1965 Dr. Jaques published an essay on working patterns of creative geniuses in which he coined the phrase “midlife crisis.” 

His development approach to organizational development makes him one of the early contributors to positive adult development.