Almost a decade ago now, readers got into a discussion within the comments about Elliott Jaques’s Requisite Organization and management. Since the commenters included the illustrious Glenn Mehltretter of PeopleFit USA; my one-time writing partner, “APFG”, now an executive himself; and my long-time friends, “J” and “JmmJ” (then a plant manager and IT specialist, respectively; it’s not the usual comment flame war but a fascinating conversation.
The exchange between namewithheld and gmehl (Glenn Mehltretter) is especially interesting. Dr Mehltretter is a name well-known to readers here: he was even then one of the top consultants in Requisite Organization applications in business and non-profits, and his answers to namewithheld’s questions are thoughtful and thorough.
I always say that the most interesting stuff is never found in my writing but in the comments. My goal back then was to spark conversations about Elliott Jaques’s work.
One caveat: this was 10 years ago and I know that my own thinking has changed. I suspect that the others would say likewise. I still recommend Executive Leadership by Elliott Jaques and Stephen Clement for people wanting to know more about Requisite Organization, although I’d probably suggest the more readily available It’s All About Work. Organizing Your Company To Get Work Done, which is Clement’s expanded and updated take on what he wrote in EL.
Highly recommended. Go read it.
Image credit: “Portrait of Edwin A. Finckel and Boyd Raeburn, Edwin A. Finckel’s home, Greenwich Village, New York, N.Y.“, ca. July 1946, by William P. Gottlieb. From the William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress).
Comments 1
Forrest… it’s still a great conversation.. interestingly enough, Glenn and I are now looking at all of our data and putting it into context with Gallop’s data on Employee Engagement.
Suffice it to say, the number of folks that are “requisitely aligned” if you will seems to track pretty well with Gallop’s percentages for “Engaged Employees”. Imagine that?