Dennis T. Jaffe

Self-Renewal Personal Transformation Following Extreme Trauma

This article presents a model of the process of self-renewal, the creative restructuring of the self that may follow the painful and disconfirming personal crisis of illness or other extreme personal trauma. Self-renewal is a possible response to pain and struggle, and one that can be facilitated and encouraged. The article presents several examples of the complex processes that make up self-renewal, including the self-definition as a person taking an active role, the presence of a deep relationship to others, and the role of being a public witness concerning issues raised by the struggle. The article concludes by suggesting that self-renewal as a process has important social implications, beyond the personal level.

Reengineering in Practice Where are the People? Where is the Learning?

Reengineering has attained tremendous popularity for what it promises, but experience shows that its real returns are far lower than expected. This article explores the process of reengineering and suggests that one reason for this lack of results is the traditional technocratic assumptions and practices that underlie the actual practice of reengineering. Based on a field study of a dozen large reengineering engagements, the article suggests that several flawed assumptions about reengineering practice get in the way of producing the desired results. For example, lack of leadership engagement, limited participation, and low commitment to learning all sow the seeds for ultimate lack of results. The article proposes a broader set of assumptions about the process of large-scale change and offers a road map of key processes to guide redesign efforts that engage leadership and employee commitment, motivate employees to change, and set the climate for learning and renewal.

Stress Management: Programs and Prospects

One of the consequences of the industrial era has been the rise of stress as a health and social problem. Stress seems to grow as a byproduct of the pressures, changes and demands of modern life and work. It is a problem that every person experiences, yet it seems so pervasive and global that many people do not believe they can do much to overcome its negative effects. Stress has been linked directly to almost every common disease, from heart disease to flu. Stress is thus a major contributor to personal health.

Client Relationships and Family Dynamics: Competencies and Services Necessary for Truly Integrated Wealth Management

Financial firms and family offices are increasingly affected by and involved with the personal and relationship issues of client family. This reality challenges a firm to help families in a way that is very different from providing financial services. For most relationship managers (RMs) who are the interface between the client and the firm, this is a new area in which they are neither trained nor comfortable. This article outlines the ways that family-dynamics issues impact multigenerational family decisions and how the RM becomes involved in these decisions. The authors present a typography of the competencies needed by RMs to serve families in this way. Next, they explore how the RM can develop these client relationship skills and define the key elements needed so that an RM is competent in handling these issues as they arise. Finally, the authors look at the challenges that arise within the financial firms and family offices as they support their client families with these services. We suggest some ways that RMs and their firms can effectively combine family-dynamics services with their financial advising.

Transition People and Alternate Services

A developmental model of personal growth toward an alternate culture is presented. Through participation in several small groups and communities which focus on building a new identity, an individual is seen as growing away from the dominant culture toward new values. The psychic costs of such a transition are suggested, and the need for alternate services to deal with the casualties of this cultural change process is described. The growth of such alternate services and the structural conflicts which emerge fromn the split organizational commitment to, ersonal growtJifor staff and help for clients are outlined. Some aspeterface of the alternate community with the dominant culture and their effects on the structure and commitment of the alternative group are also presented.

A Counseling Institution in an Oppressive Environment

DENNIS T. JAFFE is interested in alternate mstitutions, ranging from communes and couples to educational and therapeutic commumties. Currently, he is exploring the fate of couples in communal living situations, writing a book on transcendental meditation, and doing educational and consulting work with groups interested in alternate systems for therapy. He was cofounder, with Yvonne Jaffe and Ted Clark, of Number Nine Youth Cnsis and Growth Center, a loosely organized senes of

From Entitlement to Stewardship: How a Prosperous Family Can Prepare the Next Generation

The authors first observe that the major concern they hear from older family members can best be paraphrased as, “How can we raise our kids so that they don’t develop an entitled attitude but have a positive desire to work, contribute, and care for others?” Each generation wants the next one to develop a healthy relationship to money, where it can be appreciated but not depended upon for self-worth. While parents want to develop responsible and caring children, the actions they take to make that happen may be irrelevant or actually produce the opposite result. Too often, they initiate a few well intentioned, but very limited, actions that don’t really respond to the deep challenge of raising children amid wealth. Parents try to save their children from themselves, but by limiting their ability to make wrong choices, they may also limit their ability to make good choices or, even more importantly, to make poor choices and learn from them. The existence of such limits may have the unintended effect of stifling growth. Despite these pitfalls, the authors believe that a family can help the next generation develop a relationship to the family’s wealth that they characterize as stewardship. The focus of the article is thus to investigate how that concept can be put into practice.

Nueva: Designing a Humanistic School for Gifted Youngsters

For 35 years, Nueva School has been a unique setting that nurtures and explores the learning of talented and gifted children. The school was founded on a vision of providing a new type of learning community, and gaining insights into the special needs of children with special gifts, who too often are left to fend for themselves. As the school continues to grow and develop, this historical reflection on how the school came to be offers a view of the development of a very special setting for learning that grows out of the humanistic tradition in education.