Requisite leadership

Elliot Jacques is author of a book entitled ‘ Requisite Organisations: The CEO’s guide to creative structure and leadership ’. One of the most enduring ideas and thesis in his book is that human beings are born (yes, from birth) with different time horizons of thought and life perspectives.

Therefore, for example, a person who is born with a two-week time horizon can only plan and think about life issues within this framework. One implication of his thesis is that such a person would never make for leadership material in a strategy-driven organisation which only addresses issues into the future and with such requirements.

More practically also, the person can and is only suitable for a more operational role but which does not require complexity in problem solving or requisite skills exceeding a one-week perspective. Jacques was a medical practitioner and social researcher who believed he could undertake tests to establish such time horizons even from the time a baby is suckling with the mother.

For one example this is what management guru Peter Senge writes about the work of Elliot Jaques:

“Those rampaging against hierarchies today rarely stop to consider that hierarchy as a form of social organisation occurs throughout nature. Instead of throwing rocks at hierarchies, it behooves us to try to understand why hierarchy might actually be important and the principles that might guide leaders in distinguishing functional from dysfunctional hierarchy.

“No one has done better thinking on this subject than Elliott Jaques. His Requisite Organisation should be required reading for all managers genuinely interested in what – rather than simple tradition, established biases, and pure power politics – might truly JUSTIFY hierarchies capable of serving human and organisational goals.”

– Peter M Senge, Centre for Organisational Leadership, MIT

Leadership integrity and freedom

Using the above definitions and understanding, I want to address the inherent dangers of the so-called “Peaceful Assembly Bill” being tabled in Parliament and why there cannot be a more fascist piece of legislation, based on this theory and thesis about human nature.

If in fact, humans have God-ordained natural gifts of either a two-week time horizon worldview, or a 150-year worldview, as perhaps did Konosuke Matsushita, neither could be involved in any plan that requires a spontaneous peaceful group of marchers.

According to our bill, soon to become law, they are required to give one month’s notice. The former cannot and the latter would never comply with such a ridiculous requirement. Such a law is therefore an ass!

One cannot develop any organisation (Malaysia as a nation-state is one) which denies some natural grassroots leadership their capability by simply insisting that they cannot have such freedoms in their country; because they cannot plan all details of their lives for more than a month.

Moreover we cannot say we “ bermerdeka ” if we cannot even follow the example of our original freedom fighters who marched to get rid of our colonialists. What then does merdeka mean? I therefore now fear the new colonials, or neo-colonialists. Therefore, I will march today with the Walk4Freedom because we need to create a new and requisite organisational leadership for Malaysia which does not discriminate between so-called elites and ordinary human beings.

Let us examine another statement about the nature of such a requisite organisation, to seek to better understand the Jacques’ thesis.

“A critical application of Dr Jaques’ theories enables today\’s CEOs to organise their corporations correctly to utilise each employee’s God given talents, and to promote and develop employees to their maximum potential unencumbered by bureaucracy, personalities and seniority issues.

“Dr Jaques\’ system, in its eighth year of evolution at Commonweath Aluminum, has allowed our company to run a system based upon a meritocracy where good performance leads to more opportunity and poor performance leads to removal from role. The employees perceive this as a fair system and the company has achieved significantly improved performance.”

– Mark Kaminski, president and CEO, Commonwealth Aluminum

The unstated agenda of the bill is to make all citizens groups (technically, any more than two persons together) subservient to the police, who apparently are the only ones capable of defining good and poor intentions in “public space.”

This was not what the IPCMC Report discovered though. Lest we forget, those recommendations have still not been implemented by the so-called “Royal” Malaysian Police. The two “royals” do not seem to see eye to eye, as one was “opinions” of a royal commission of inquiry. So, why is there such discordance in views?

Well, I believe this may be the role and purpose of the neo-colonialist aka known as “the current mainstream intermediaries” who will remain unstated but we all know who they are. They want to command and control the lesser folk who they presume are lesser ones and therefore cannot figure out their “ ketuanan agenda.”

I therefore march because our forefather Onn Jaafar marched for the right reason of freedom from colonial rule. I march because Martin Luther King Jr marched. I march because Gandhi marched. I march because Bishop Tutu and Cardinal Sin marched and because Mother Teresa marched with her hands to care for the poor and marginalised.

I also march because, sometimes, it is necessary for someone like Nelson Mandela ( left ) to be in jail for 27 years for the nation and its people to learn to stand up for truth and righteousness. But, Bishop Tutu has even marched again recently.

Therefore, dear Malaysians, let us march, for as the Bar Council notice quotes Martin Luther King Jr who once said, “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Friends, citizens, and countrymen and women, let us march for freedom as did all our forefathers; who walked for freedom through such truly peaceful assemblies. Only then can we experience the real meaning of the merdeka we celebrate for 47 years but often fail to understand the real meanings and significance.

May God Bless Malaysia move towards greater freedom and dignity.