Creativity and Work (Emotions and Behavior Monographs)

203 Pages·1990·23.504 MB·English

by  Elliot Jaques

EMOTIONS AND BEHAVIOR
MONOGRAPHS Creativity and Work
Monograph No. 9
edited by
George H. Pollock, M.D., Ph.D.
Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis by
ELLIOTT JAQUES
M.A., M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P.
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES PRESS, INC.
Madison C o n n e c t i c u t
Contents
Introduction vii
Acknowledgments xi
1
1. The Science of Society
2. The Human Consequences of Industrialization 21
3. Task Complexity 43
Copyright 1990 George H. Pollock
4. Cognitive Complexity 81
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any 5. Maturation of Cognitive Power 101
means, nor translated into a machine language, without the written 6. Notes on the Psychological Meaning of Work 125
permission of the publisher.
7. Learning for Uncertainty 149
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 8. Theses on Work and Creativity 171
9. The Work—Payment—Capacity Nexus 191
Jaques, Elliott.
10. The Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious
Creativity and work / by Elliott Jaques.
p. cm.—(Emotions and behavior monographs; monograph no. 9) Experience Called Time 209
Reprinted from various sources. 11. Time and the Measurement of Human
Includes bibliographies and index.
Attributes 245
ISBN 0-8236-1088-8
12. Quantification in the Human Sciences 257
1. Work—Psychological aspects. 2. Creative ability. I. Title.
II. Series: Emotions and behavior monographs; no. 9. 13. Death and the Midlife Crisis 297
[DNLM: 1. Creativeness—collected works. 2. Work—collected works. 14. Disturbances in the Capacity to Work 331
W1 EM673 no. 9 / BF 481 J36c]
15. A Contribution to a Discussion of Freud's
HF5548.8.J27 1990
158.7—dc19 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego 361
DNLM/DLC 16. Psychotic Anxieties and the Sense of Justice 371
for Library of Congress
17. Guilt, Conscience, and Social Behavior 395
88-13641
CIP
Name Index 413
Manufactured in the United States of America
Subject Index 417
Introduction
The theme around which I have chosen to select these
essays is contained in the title. It is about the conditions
under which people can work effectively and creatively—on
their own and together with others. By conditions, I refer
not simply to the psychological state of individuals, nor
to the social or institutional circumstances within which
they work, but to both. Creativity emerges from individ-
uals finding or being given opportunities to work at their
full level of capability.
In the above sense, then, all work is creative in prin-
ciple. Goal-directed behavior requires the continuous
play of thought, imagination, judgment, and decision
making. Computers will never be able to do it. Work
becomes uncreative when people are underemployed; that
is to say, when the level of work they are doing is beneath
that which they could do. And unfortunately in our in-
dustrial society, far too many people are either unem-
ployed, or if employed, then underutilized.
What then is work? It may be noted that all human
behavior falls into two main categories, goal-directed and
non-goal-directed behavior. The latter, non-goal-directed
behavior, comprises musing, reverie, dreaming, free-
floating fantasy. The former or goal-directed behavior is,
simply, work.
By work I refer to all goal-directed behavior. I do not
vii
Viii I N T R O D U C T I O N I N T R O D U C T I O N i X
hold with the common or vulgar definition of work as
being something we do because we have to do it, or do of cognitive processes in the individual and their iso-
just for money. Work thus includes not only the work we morphism with levels of task complexity; and the ma-
do for a living, but also "creative" work, recreational work turation of cognitive complexity and working capability
(goal-directed play activities), house- and homework, pa- in individuals.
rental work, and so on. Work in this broad sense is nec- The next four essays deal with connections between
essary for sustaining psychological integration and life the psychological experience of uncertainty which is cen-
itself. • tral to work, and the balance between intensity of un-
Creativity, in the sense in which it is used as referring certainty, felt level of work, and the sense of fair reward.
to artistic or intellectual creativity, I take as simply one These essays lead into three others which pursue the
particular kind of work. It is work whose direction and theme of level of work and how this can be measured by
goals arise almost exclusively from the inner world of the reference to time-spans of discretion, and a study of the
individual rather than from external injunction or for nature of the experience of time.
external purposes. But just because it arises internally "Death and the Midlife Crisis" stands on its own as
does not mean for me that there are particular uncon- a study of creativity which led to my formulation of the
scious fantasy systems which can explain outstanding concept of the midlife crisis. And the book ends with four
creativity. Fantasy enters into all work—and creative essays on some of the unconscious sources of social be-
genius in its artistic sense arises from the same cognitive havior, social relationships, and social justice, and of psy-
sources of outstanding capability as is the case for all chopathology in work.
work—except that the artist focuses upon getting inter- About half the essays were printed previously in Work,
nally generated thoughts out onto canvas or manuscript. Creativity and Social Justice (1970). The present book
The contents arise from unconscious fantasy and work- might be thought of as a completely revised edition of
ing-through of unconscious conflicts, but the greatness, that work.
I believe, arises as for all kinds of work, from the scale
of complexity of the individual and the corresponding
scale of the world which he or she can pattern and live
in.
The essays in this book thus range from those mainly
focused upon social institutions to those which are more
focused upon individual functioning. The first two essays
argue for a true science of society as the basis for devel-
oping a truly human society with industrialization. There
then follow three essays written specially for this book,
which treat of: the interplay between complexity as it
exists in tasks in the social world; levels of complexity
Acknowledgments
A number of these papers have been printed or read be-
fore, and some of them appear here in an amended form.
My thanks are due to the publishers for their permission
to reprint:
"The Science of Society": Inaugural address on becom-
ing Professor and Head of the School of Social Sciences,
Brunel University; published in Human Relations, Vol.
19, No. 2, 1966.
"The Human Consequences of Industrialization": Work,
Creativity and Social Justice, Heinemann Educational
Books Ltd., London, 1970.
"Notes on the Psychological Meaning of Work": Mea-
surement of Responsibility, Heinemann Educational Books
Ltd., London, 1956.
"Learning for Uncertainty": Work, Creativity and So-
cial Justice, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London,
1970.
"Theses on Work and Creativity": Work, Creativity
and Social Justice, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.,
London, 1970.
"The Work—Payment—Capacity Nexus": Equitable
Payment, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London,
1961.
"The Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious Ex-
perience Called Time": The Form of Time, New York,
Crane Russak, 1982.
xi
Chapter 1
X11 A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
"Time and the Measurement of Human Attributes":
Work, Creativity and Social Justice, Heinemann Educa-
tional Books Ltd., London, 1970. The Science of Society
"Quantification in the Human Sciences": The Form
of Time, New York, Crane Russak, 1982.
"Death and the Midlife Crisis": International Journal
of Psycho Analysis, Vol. 46, Part 4, 1965.
"Disturbances in the Capacity to Work": International
Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Vol. 41, Parts 4-5, 1960. I
"A Contribution to a Discussion of Freud's Group Psy-
Although, in this scientific age, after 300 years of tech-
chology and the Analysis of the Ego": Work, Creativity
and Social Justice, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., nical advance, we have come to recognize the revolution-
London, 1970. ary difference that a scientific approach can make in
solving apparently intractable problems, we must yet ask
"Psychotic Anxieties and the Sense of Justice": Work,
why there is so little development in the use of scientific
Creativity and Social Justice, Heinemann Educational
Books Ltd., London, 1970. method in the government, in administration, and in the
management of society and its institutions.
"Guilt, Conscience, and Social Behavior": Work, Crea-
By government, administration, and management of
tivity and Social Justice, Heinemann Educational Books
society and its institutions, I am referring not to vague
Ltd., London, 1970.
generalities, but specifically to the institutions that we
ourselves take part in, or that affect us: our educational
system and modes of teaching in schools; the structure
and location of our cities and towns; our health service
and administration of hospitals; how authority and re-
sponsibility are distributed in the relationship between
government and nationalized industries; the organiza-
tion and running of civil service departments, trade
unions, and universities; the structure of responsibility
for decisions in the management of industrial and com-
mercial enterprises. In short, I refer to all types of insti-
tution in our society.
Our current mode of administering and managing our
institutions is mainly by custom and practice built upon
1
2 C R E A T I V I T Y AND WORK THE SCIENCE OF SOCIETY 3
unchecked assumptions and conventions. We modify, of the nation and of the world, in which we cooperate and
adapt, and develop these methods by means of intuitive survive, or fight and die.
judgment, opinion, guesswork, and rule-of-thumb, or by Disciplined description meets resistance, for it seems
debating and arguing with each other within a frame- to challenge the freedom of the human spirit—the free-
work of various types of political philosophy. dom of ideas. What in fact is challenged is a spurious
This empirical, rule-of-thumb approach works not freedom, one not worth preserving. It is the freedom to
badly up to a point, so long as there is not too much believe that, because we think something, then it must
disagreement about objectives and methods. But even at be so—a kind of cogito ergo est! We resent losing the
its best, modern social life cannot be said to be so satis- freedom to have our own, personal models: prejudices
factorily arranged that the introduction of disciplined about the effects of the death penalty; stereotypes about
scientific thinking could not help to improve matters. workers and business tycoons; fantasies about the best
Why, then, do we move so slowly and reluctantly in this way to overcome the problems of the adolescent; opinions
direction? If we had at least a strong desire for a disci- about whether comprehensive schools are best; illusions
plined approach to the problems, there would be apparent about the existence of absolute principles and policies—not
in each of us the signs of resolute endeavor to forward to mention our anxiety about the possibility of losing
research and thus increase our knowledge. It is the ex- relative position and privilege.
istence of the resolve and desire that I would question. Francis Bacon (1620) described this resistance as "the
For let us make no mistake—it simply cannot be taken rejection of difficult things from impatience of research;
for granted that scientific knowledge, and its use to ad- sober things because they narrow hope; the deeper things
vance the satisfaction and well-being of mankind, are of nature from superstition; the light of experience from
unreservedly accepted in our society. I do not, of course, arrogance and pride . ." (p. 134).
refer to verbal acceptance. Nearly everyone will say he Freud explained it as the unconscious impulse in each
is in favor of science. It is like saying one is in favor of one of us to seek the primitive state in which everything
racial equality. There's no hardship in that! But being is magically pleasurable, in preference to the pain and
verbally in favor of science is a far cry from accepting the limitation, albeit the maturity, of living under the con-
personal implications of the use of disciplined description straint of the reality principle.
of our own institutions and behavior as a practical every-
day guide to our own decisions and actions.
II
For now we must seek to understand not only the
inanimate world around us, but also the social world of The anxiety about freedom shows in countless ways. One
which we form a part. We must have the courage to seek of these ways—and a most important one, widespread in
disciplined descriptions and adequate models of our- its manifestations—is the cultivation of vagueness and
selves, individually and in relation to each other; of the confusion in our own organizations. The slogan is: "Let
social institutions in which we take up roles—at work, us leave it vague so that individual creativeness can have
at home, and at leisure; of the larger social environment a greater chance!" Even some social scientists favor this
4 C R E A T I V I T Y AND WORK THE SCIENCE OF SOCIETY 5
outlook, and express it in the concept of informal orga- kind, some of the most crucial issues for the development
nization; that is to say, in purposely leaving unspecified of university policy are left vague and unresolved.
the responsibility in certain areas of organization, in Through confusion of the question of de jure authority,
which individual endeavor is allowed to express itself in which can be identified, with that of de facto power, which
personal networks, idiosyncratic to the persons who hap- must always be a dynamic field of changing forces, the
pen to be in the organization at a given time. Perhaps major question of where the nation can locate account-
the best illustration is provided by so-called old-boy net- ability for the policy of the individual university is left
works. vague and unsettled. And we are all aware what stress
Many readers will be familiar with an expression of and tension and pain can be engendered by this vague-
the reliance upon vagueness in the sections in the Rob- ness. There is accepted by default what the report rec-
bins report (Ministry of Education, 1963) dealing with ognizes as "a system of government . . . which is based
the government of universities. I choose this example on an elaborate committee structure" (p. 114)—a struc-
because it is such an immediate issue to those connected ture which leaves the question of final accountability no
with universities and it may thereby help to illustrate clearer.
one of my main themes, which is that the point of social That this vagueness is something more than just an
science is its application to our own institutions, so that accident or oversight is demonstrated in a more explicit
it touches our own personal lives. statement in the report on the role of the Vice-Chancellor.
"Universities," the report states in discussing where Here it is stated: "His is a role which, probably fortu-
ultimate authority lies, "are no exception to the general nately, is seldom precisely spelt out in written constitu-
rule that a great gulf lies between constitutions on paper tions. Yet it would be difficult to overstate its importance,
and government in practice. A description of the function particularly in a period of expansion, which calls for
and composition of the statutory bodies is not necessarily imagination and continuous initiative" (p. 168). What the
an analysis of the real sources of initiative and power; report fails to note in this praise of vagueness is its in-
these depend partly on the imponderables of specific cir- consistency with the statement further down the same
cumstances and individual personalities, and are almost paragraph that "governing bodies should give serious
impossible to determine" (p. 87). Later, in regard to major attention to improving their organization" (p. 168) with
policy issues such as decisions about the size of the uni- regard to the variety and burden of work of the Vice-
versity and of the individual faculties, it says: "Such pol- Chancellor. Such improvement cannot be achieved for a
icy-making is thus essentially in the hands of the senior role which is imprecisely defined.
academic staff' (p. 112), although it recognizes that this I have quoted at some length from the Robbins report,
arrogated power of the senior professors often frustrates not for the purpose of singling it out for criticism, but
the reasonable expectations of the governors and the merely to illustrate how readily we accept the hope that
other members of staff to take a greater part in policy- issues of great moment will sort themselves out if only
making. they are left sufficiently vague. Even in such a scholarly
As a result of vaguely formulated constitutions of this report, with its generally meticulous concern for fact, the
6 C R E A T I V I T Y AND WORK THE SCIENCE OF SOCIETY 7
emphasis is certainly not on the urgent need for a prac- Once thought of and expressed, they influence our own
tical and systematic attack upon the problems mentioned. outlook and actions, and the outlook and actions of others.
Nor is there even any evidence of regret that a more In the ordering of our social affairs, we are weighed
comprehensive and systematic solution was not avail- down by countless such distorting formulations. They
able. No, somehow the interests of freedom—in this case impede our actions, or, worse, cause us to act in ways
academic freedom—are felt to be better served by lack of which preclude the resolution of the problems we wish
clarity. to settle. For instance, in trade-union/management ne-
gotiations it is held that union leaders are accountable
111 for representing management's views to the workers.
Strikes are often alleged to occur, and to persist intract-
We may ask, however, if our hanging on to descriptions ably, because of distorted or false representation of these
we know intuitively to be inaccurate or incomplete really views. I believe that this description is often correct. But
matters. Is this anxiety about what would happen if we to castigate the union leaders causes resentment and
heightens tension, and will not overcome the difficulty.
tried to describe ourselves and our social environment
The solution to the problem depends upon both manage-
more clearly of any great significance? Do we need, after
ment and unions recognizing that it is in fact the re-
all, to have such clarity and precision in our descriptions
sponsibility of managements to convey their own views
and our statements of policy, of organization, of principle,
directly to their workers. It is not the job of union rep-
of authority and responsibility, of individual behavior?
resentatives to do so, since they are accountable to the
Are we not in danger of becoming too formal about these
workers who elected them and not to management.
things? I do not believe that we are in such a danger. The
Examples of false and misleading formulations, tailor-
danger lies in leaving things too informal, too vague.
made for trouble, abound in their hundreds and thou-
These questions all have the same general implica-
sands: judging the performance of individuals on the basis
tion: Are we not in danger of carrying accurate descrip-
of a few simple quantifiable aspects of what they do, like
tion too far? Where is it all to lead? We will be subjecting
judging a teacher on the number of students he has who
ethics, religion, everything, to scientific scrutiny—is
pass examinations, or a chief executive on the profit for
nothing in all humanity to be left sacrosanct? It can only
the year; the assumption that there is one single cause
be said in reply that the healthy progress of humanity for every problem; the assumption that if all students
depends on our getting away from any and all unrealistic pass their examinations, then standards must be drop-
mental images of the world in which we live. For the ping, or that if there is a high failure rate, then the qual-
alternative to having concepts and mental models based ity of the intake must be low; the assumption that those
upon careful and minute description is not that of having who do mental work should have shorter hours than those
no models at all; it is that of having formulations that who do manual work. Ideas like these are to be found in
are based upon biased conventions and unchecked as- every area of our social life, imprisoning our thoughts
sumptions. The resulting distorted models are important. and actions and leading into muddle, argument, and un-