United States
United States
Presented a keynote address on the Time Span Assessment method at the 2007 World Conference in Toronto.
United States
"Human Capability: A Study of Individual Potential and its Application" by Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason presents a revolutionary framework for understanding human potential and its relationship to work complexity. Published in 1994, this landmark study is the culmination of decades of research by Jaques, who first gained prominence in the 1950s with his discovery of the time-span measurement of work.
The book introduces a methodology for objectively evaluating an individual's current and future potential capability, connecting this capability directly to organizational structure through a recursive hierarchy of mental processing types. While the book's technical nature may initially seem daunting, its insights offer extraordinary value for executives and organization designers seeking to build more effective enterprises.
Jaques and Cason begin by addressing a fundamental challenge: despite work's critical importance to human society, little is definitively known about its nature or about the capability to perform it at different levels of complexity. The authors define work as "the exercise of judgment and discretion in making the decisions necessary to solve and overcome the problems that arise in the course of carrying out tasks." This definition establishes that all work is inherently creative and problem-solving in nature.
The authors distinguish between three key aspects of capability:
A central proposition is that Current Potential Capability is determined exclusively by a person's complexity of mental processing, which matures along predictable pathways throughout life but is independent of acquired knowledge or social opportunity.
The core of the study reveals that there are four—and only four—distinct patterns of mental processing that people use when engaged in problem-solving:
The authors discovered that these four processing types recur at progressively higher orders of information complexity, creating a recursive hierarchy:
Each combination of processing type and information complexity creates distinct categories of mental processing. For example, "B3" represents symbolic (second order) serial processing, while "C2" represents abstract conceptual (third order) cumulative processing.
A significant contribution by Jaques was his earlier discovery that the level of work in any role can be objectively measured by what he termed the "time-span of discretion." This refers to the longest-targeted completion time of tasks assigned to a role. For instance, if the longest task assigned has a 6-month target, the time-span is 6 months.
Importantly, Jaques discovered natural discontinuities in organizational layers that correspond to specific time-spans:
The study demonstrated a precise one-to-one correspondence between these organizational strata and specific categories of mental processing:
Another groundbreaking aspect of this work is the evidence that potential capability matures throughout life along predictable pathways. This fundamentally challenges the conventional wisdom that cognitive development is complete by late adolescence.
The authors present a multi-track theory of maturation, demonstrating that individuals mature along different bands with different endpoints (or "modes"). Those with higher modes mature more rapidly and continue developing into old age. For example, a person whose maximum potential will reach Stratum VII (C3 processing) will develop more rapidly and continue developing longer than someone whose maximum potential will reach Stratum III (B3 processing).
This maturation process is constitutionally established and proceeds regardless of education, social status, or gender, provided severely detrimental environmental conditions are absent. The authors emphasize that this has significant implications for fair employment practices, as potential capability will mature even in disadvantaged individuals, though they may lack the opportunity to apply it.
While potential capability is determined solely by complexity of mental processing, current applied capability (CAC) depends on three additional factors:
They express this relationship as: CAC = f(CMP • V • K/S • (-T))
The authors note that many workplace motivation issues stem from non-requisite organizational structures that fail to allow full expression of employees' potential capability.
The core of the book presents the results of a rigorous study conducted in two companies already organized according to the stratified system described by Jaques. The study involved 72 subjects across organizational levels from Stratum I to VI.
Each subject was engaged in discussions on topics of personal interest and on the legalization of drugs, allowing researchers to observe their mental processing patterns. The researchers then evaluated each subject's category of mental complexity without knowing how the subject's manager or manager-once-removed had evaluated their potential capability.
The results were striking, with correlations of 0.97 between the researchers' judgments based on mental processing and the independently made evaluations of current potential by managers and the subjects themselves. This extraordinarily high correlation clearly validated the authors' key hypothesis.
Importantly, in cases where a subject's current role differed from their judged potential capability, the mental processing evaluation matched the judged potential rather than the current role level, further supporting the validity of the methodology.
The findings explain why managerial hierarchies have persisted for thousands of years and likely always will. Effective managerial leadership requires managers to operate at one level of mental processing higher than their immediate subordinates in order to set an appropriate context for their work.
For example, a manager using cumulative (B2) processing can effectively set context for subordinates using declarative (B1) processing. A manager using serial (B3) processing can effectively set context for subordinates using cumulative (B2) processing, and so on.
This insight explains why organizations with too many layers or improperly structured layers experience inefficiency, frustration, and communication problems. It also clarifies why some managers are experienced as "micromanagers" (context too narrow) while others are seen as "too distant" (context too broad).
The research offers a compelling explanation for why larger corporations tend to optimally place profit-and-loss business units at Stratum V (C1 processing level). This creates a crucial linkage between operational business activities (handled through second-order symbolic processing) and corporate strategic activities (requiring third-order conceptual processing).
For executives, this provides a powerful framework for designing more effective organizational structures that align with the natural capabilities of their leadership teams.
The ability to accurately evaluate both current and future potential capability transforms talent pool development and succession planning. Instead of relying on psychometric tests or assessment centers, organizations can implement more reliable processes where managers-once-removed (MoRs) evaluate the potential capability of their subordinates-once-removed (SoRs).
Since the research demonstrates that these evaluations can be highly accurate (with inter-rater reliability above 0.9), this approach can significantly improve talent identification and development while eliminating biases related to gender, race, education, or background.
The framework provides a powerful tool for evaluating equal opportunity in organizations by identifying how many employees are involuntarily working in roles below their potential capability, and whether this underutilization disproportionately affects certain groups.
The authors emphasize that a fair and just society must provide opportunities for all citizens to utilize their full potential capabilities. They argue that widespread underemployment of talent is a "fundamentally evil and wasteful" practice that reduces both economic output and individual well-being.
The methodology allows for more effective assessment of external candidates by evaluating their complexity of mental processing during interview discussions. This provides a more reliable predictor of capability than traditional methods while reducing biases related to background or education.
Understanding the predictable maturation patterns of potential capability enables more effective long-term career planning. Since individuals mature along different bands with different endpoints, organizations can better anticipate when individuals will be ready for roles at higher organizational strata.
This challenges the common practice in Western companies of retiring executives at 60-65, precisely when many high-capability individuals are reaching their peak mental complexity. The authors contrast this with Japanese companies that utilize senior executives effectively into their 70s.
The framework challenges conventional wisdom about leadership and creativity. Rather than requiring special personality traits, effective leadership and creativity depend primarily on having:
This insight can reshape how organizations approach leadership development and creative work.
"Human Capability" represents a paradigm shift in understanding individual potential, work, and organizational structure. By establishing a scientific basis for evaluating potential capability and demonstrating its direct relationship to organizational stratification, Jaques and Cason provide a comprehensive framework that can transform how we design organizations and develop talent.
For executives and organization designers, the book's value lies in its ability to explain persistent organizational phenomena and provide practical solutions to common challenges:
By answering these questions through a rigorously validated framework, "Human Capability" offers a foundation for building more effective, satisfying, and productive organizations. While the concepts require careful study to fully appreciate, the potential rewards—both economic and human—make this investment well worthwhile for senior executives and organization designers seeking competitive advantage through optimized human systems.
The authors conclude with a powerful vision: a society where everyone has the opportunity to utilize their full potential capability, receiving equitable recognition for their contribution. Such a society would not only be more economically productive but also more just and satisfying for all its members. For executives leading organizations in an increasingly complex world, this vision offers both a moral compass and a practical roadmap for sustainable success.