Elliott Jaques

Elliott Jaques (January 18, 1917 - March 8, 2003) was a
Canadian psychoanalyst and organizational psychologist.
He developed the notion of requisite organization from his
"stratified systems theory," running counter to many others
in the field of organizational development. Although he is most
widely known for developing the concept of "social systems as defense against unconscious anxiety" (Jaques, 1951) which shed light on the close relationship between organizational task (i.e. the main aim of an organization, such as to produce, cure, etc.) and unconscious group dynamics and how each can aid or distort the other. Jaques' ideas are still very influential in the psychoanalytic study of organizations.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Jaques was educated at University of Toronto and studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University before receiving his Ph.D in social relations from Harvard University. During World War II, he moved to England where he remained after the war, studying under British psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. 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 where he became a professor and head of the school, and of its Research Institute of Organizational Studies.

Dr. Jaques is the author of more than 20 books, including The Life and Behavior of Living Organisms (2002), Social Power and the CEO (2002), Requisite Organization (1996), Human Capability (1994) with Kathryn Cason, Executive Leadership (1993) with Dr. Stephen Clement and General Theory of Bureaucracy (1976).

The concept of the mid-life crisis was introduced by Jaques in 1965. His development approach to organizational development makes him one of the early contributors to Positive Adult Development.

Dr. Jaques passed away in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 2003.