Succesive Encounters with the Requisite Organization Theory

Summary
- Mike Kirby is the deputy undersecretary of the United States Army for Business transformation engineering. Background MBA time as a serving officer in the US Army and then in the business world. Now charged by the Secretary and the Chief of Staff to lead a change process in the way the army does business.

Speaker A I'm Mike Kirby, and I'm the I'm currently the deputy undersecretary of the United States Army for Business transformation engineering. Background MBA time as a serving officer in the US. Arm...

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Speaker A I'm Mike Kirby, and I'm the I'm currently the deputy undersecretary of the United States Army for Business transformation engineering. Background MBA time as a serving officer in the US. Army and then in the business world and now recalled to civilian service for a three year term of office in the Army Secretariat. I was in the chief of staff of the Army's office about 20 years ago, working for the senior uniformed officer in the army. And a fellow named Elliot Jacks came in, brought in by Dr. Steve Clement, a friend of mine at the time. And still and Elliot was doing some work for the army and was explaining this to the chief of staff. And he gave him a book, requisite organization, signed it to him. And as he was leaving, the chief of staff turned to me and said, here, you better read this book. I don't know if I'm going to have time to do it. So I plowed through Ro and that was my real first exposure to the theory and the practice and again from MBA days, which wasn't too far in front of that. It was compelling, I think, in terms of a body of knowledge. I continued to serve in the army, went into the business world, was in the aerospace business, participated in a lot of different mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations. And I think I saw the lack of principled approach to business organization. Got asked to join the Army Science Board, which is a pro bono organization or a pro bono body of essentially business people and academics that look at the army from a different perspective. Was actually brought in to do that about four years ago. And who should I see there as well but Dr. Clement? And he sort of reacquainted me with the theory. And in fact, our first task was to help the then Secretary of the Army, Tom White, do some realignment of the headquarters. So I guess I sort of got reintroduced to the theory, but more important, I got reintroduced to the importance of basing organizational decision structure and really your whole business plan on a set of principles, proven principles. And now as the Deputy Undersecretary of the army for Business transformation really charged by the Secretary and the Chief of Staff to lead a change process in terms of the way the army does business, I'm firmly grounded in the principles and have a chance now at the executive level to actually lead them through the application in an organization. So that's sort of where I start to finish. Came to address you today, Sam.

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Michael A. Kirby
Deputy Under Secretary of the Army (Business Transformation)
US Army
Country
USA
Date
2006
Duration
3:29
Language
English
Format
Interview
Organization
US Army

Major organizations and consulting firms that provide Requisite Organization-based services

A global association of academics, managers, and consultants that focuses on spreading RO implementation practices and encouraging their use
Dr. Gerry Kraines, the firms principal, combines Harry Levinson's leadership frameworks with Elliott Jaques's Requisite Organization. He worked closely with Jaques over many years, has trained more managers in these methods than anyone else in the field, and has developed a comprehensive RO-based software for client firms.
Ron Capelle is unique in his multiple professional certifications, his implementation of RO concepts through well designed organization development methods, and his research documenting the effectiveness of his firm's interventions
Former RO-experienced CEO, Ron Harding, provides coaching to CEOs of start-ups and small and medium-size companies that are exploring their own use of RO concepts.  His role is limited, temporary and coordinated with the RO-based consultant working with the organization
Founded by Gillian Stamp, one of Jaques's colleagues at Brunel, the firm modified Jaques;s work-levels, developed the Career Path Appreciation method, and has grown to several hundred certified assessors in aligned consulting firms world-wide recently expanding to include organization design
Requisite Organization International Institute distributes Elliott Jaques's books, papers, and videos and provides RO-based training to client organizations