When it comes to organization, it often seems like there’s really only ...

Organizational structure

Crisis management

Project management

Compensation and incentives

Staff functions

Decision making

Dismissal

Conflict management

Performance management

Investments

Information flows

Meetings

Job titles and job descriptions

1. Management

Safe space

Office spaces

RecruitmentCompensation & incentives

Working hours

StorytellingDismissal

Conflict resolution

Feedback & Evaluations

On-boarding

Storytelling

Meetings

Job titles and job descriptions

2. Wholeness

StrategyPerformance management Change management

Planning & budgets

Recruitment

Competition

On-boarding

Profit & market share

Targets

Product management & Innovation

Marketing

3. Evolutionary purpose

How are you organized?

For 99% of organizations the answer is “through a hierarchy”…

… where the management hierarchy was invented over 100 years ago …

… with very little innovation since then

~70% of employees are unhappy at work

Too many good ideas are muffled

There is less and less time to become a sustainable business

There is a significant space to harm society

In our current age of acceleration the imperfections of how we organize are now visible

Source: TIME Magazine

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2045202010-6

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Analytische motor die simpele reken-problemen oplost

Computer-rekenkracht haalt menselijke rekenkracht in 2023

iPhone 6: 1011

berekeningen / seconde

… which makes imperfections visible on how we organize

We are in an age of acceleration…

A

B

C

D

Disclaimer 1: explaining a new paradigm is very hard with our current dictionary

Source: SparkOptimus

1 Footnote

Hierarchical decision making

ConsensusDistributed (or with advice)

Lets not move all the way towards consensus

From centralized to distributed authority

LOW COMPLEXITY HIGH COMPLEXITYVS

Holacracy is just an operating system, not cool by itself…

Rapid iterations – creating a trusted & forward looking operating system based on dynamic steeringPredict, command & control

Mission, vision & strategy

Large special initiatives

Budget planning & scenario analysis

Roadmaps & milestones

Meeting cycle stakeholder driven with SteerCos boards, MTs

KPIs & targets

Dynamic steering

Purpose statement & strategy heuristics

Rapid, small iteration operation & governance iterations

Transparent & granular projects

Dynamic resource allocation

High frequency metrics

Next action & outcome driven mindset

Holacracy makes the “rules of the game” explicit

Effectively, Holacracy is a design language: the core of Holacracy is an explicit set of rules / guidelines on how the organization’s operating system works

Where is the human side of it?

Personal space Role space

Tribe space Org space

In warm cultures love and affection are abused to get things done…

Within the right system people can just take care of themself

Source: SparkOptimus

RoleCircleOrganization

18

With an emphasis on getting work done and using tension to improve getting work done

Tension: the perceived gap between how things are and how they could be

Tools to process tensions

Governance (working ON the organization)

Tactical / Operations(working IN the organization)

RoleRole

... And evolving with short, disciplined cycles

Role

Accountability

Accountability

Project Project

Action

Action

Action

Action

Too many good ideas are muffled

“More organizations die of indigestion than starvation”

- David Packard Co-founder HP

http://energized.org

Koen veltman

Linkedin