Every now and then you hear of a new management technique that makes you ask – what are they thinking? For me the latest is Holacracy. “Developed by a former software entrepreneur, the idea is to replace the traditional corporate chain of command with a series of overlapping, self-governing “circles.” In theory, this gives employees more of a voice in the way the company is run.”
As if matrix management isn’t enough, instead of nice tight little grids, we replace lines with circles. I sometimes think people are looking at geometric shapes and wondering how they can build a management philosophy around them. And the worst part is that Zappos has decided that this is the way they’re going to run their company.
When you read descriptions about Holacracy it sort of makes sense which is why I guess that companies would give it a try. Work is organized around what needs to be done instead of around people. People work in multiple circles for different functions. Decision making is integrative. (This must be a new douchebag term I have missed – integrative decision making.)
The big thing about Holacracy is no management. Huh, what’s that? No management? Sounds perfect. Where can I sign up?
OMG, I’m trying to remain open minded but business is hard enough with bad managers. Getting rid of them altogether would be a real trip.
The only great thing Holacracy it is that it will earn a lot of money for the consultants who will help implement it and for the other ones that will help a company recover from it.
Since the idea of running businesses with overlapping circles instead of lines is taken, I think I’ll spend the weekend developing a management theory that uses triangles as a way for organizing work.
Hi, I work with Holacracy everyday and I’ve witnessed how many misconceptions there has been around what Holacracy is and how it works. It is very different from what you may have read in the news headlines. More in this blog post: “Holacracy Is Not What You Think” https://medium.com/about-holacracy/67144c3adf8
Olivier – Thanks for your comment and the link to the article on Holacracy. I’m now feeling guilty for my flippant dismissal of what you have created. The intent of my blog is to get people thinking and to entertain. I may have erred on the irreverent while criticizing Holacracy. What I would like to do is actually present a reasoned critique of where I have a problem with what little I know about it. I would then like to give you a chance to write a guest blog to rebut what I’ve written. Are you up for a guest blog response?
Appreciate your interest and openness to criticism Charles.
I think a lot of what you can already find online addresses most of your perceived issues with Holacracy. Starting with the blog post I shared, but also reading others in this collection: https://medium.com/about-holacracy and reading/watching resources on our website http://holacracy.org/resources should cover most of your questions & concerns. But maybe the best place to start is to watch a recording of our webinar: it’s 45-min long but it gives a good overview: http://holacracy.org/resources/video-introduction-to-holacracy
Hope that helps!
Olivier, thanks for the further information. As promised, I have written another blog on the subject that sets out the specific issues I have with Holacracy. I would be interested in your feedback on how it makes strategy execution easier instead of harder. If you want to write a guest blog, I would be pleased to post it. Instead if you want to comment on today’s post, that would work for me as well. I have one further post on the subject to come that examines how people come up with new management theories.
Hi Charles,
I looked at your other blog post and you make very interesting points. I’ll be happy to write a reply. I apologize in advance for the delay, I’m currently focused on other projects, but I plan to come back to it when things settle down a bit. Thanks for the engaging inquiry.