Holacracy… another management hype?

(or: how we embraced control without control)

Ruben Timmerman for Agile in Business, Warsaw, 23 September 2014

Intro: so why am I standing here?

What does Holacracy mean to us?

Phases in our adoption…

Why make the painful move?

Challenges to overcome

Was it worth it? Will it be to you?

You challenging me!

An Amazon of LearningHelp people grow

by discovering & choosing the right learning opportunity.

Ruben is about:

Learn, Grow

Optimize, Efficient

Creating Chaos

…or I’ll get bored!

Springest mission 1: Help people learn

Springest mission 2: Build a learning

company

Why Holacracy?

GTD

Scrum / Kanban

X Transparency

Hungry people

Tools, tools, tools

Data driven, KPI focussed, OKR setting

Daily (Scrum) standups

A promise, a reward, a wish and ambition…

What we hoped to achieve

The promise of

control

without

controlling

The reward of

learning together

The ambition

to create a

better type of

organisation

The wish to be a

more

rewarding place

to work at

Phases in our adoption

Already doing it!

Not really… not for

everyone…

We get it now!

We expect!

Mastering… 60-80%?

Practical Impact of Holacracy

Less bullshitting: shorter meetings

Clarity in roles: more accountability

Unified system: upgraded GTD

Project visibility: less synchronization

Less micromanagement anxiety

Did I mention: NO EMAIL?

1. Holacracy doesn’t tell you

how to run your organization

!

Fix: use process to create clarity

evolve

2. Holacracy tells you exactly how

to run your organization

!

Fix: play the game!

Fix: Address roles publicly & directly

3. Gossip & politics will be there

Fix: More focus on learning

4. Just play and lose, or Read the rules

5. People will still

“smell” managers

!

Fix: feedback!

6. When the going gets tough, you

have to suck it up !

Fix: clarify strategy

Fix: Beware of creationist managers

7. Creationism vs. Evolution

Fix: “Holacracy is not an experiment”

8. Staying positive in hard times

Confronting!

Great for growth

Is it worth it?

Ultimate in agile

Tough for slowing

Questions?

Bring it on! http://springe.st/begin-holacracy

ruben@springest.com

@rubzie