[OSList] Orgs that Failed to Implement Self-Organization?

Fri Jun 21 03:28:14 PDT 2019

Thanks for sharing this,  having just read holocracy... it’s good to know that these things always need adaption to cultures...

The point about power and mandating is also very interesting.

Best Karl

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Karl Royle
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University of Wolverhampton
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On 21 Jun 2019, at 11:09, Daniel Mezick via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org<mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:

Hi Jake,

There are many failed examples of "mandated self organization." You can imagine the success rate of such an approach.

Now, the Agile industry is pretty good at selling this "mandated self organization" stuff. But I'm getting ahead of the story...

Most of the failure stories do not make it out into the wild. But the insiders do whisper about them. To friends and colleagues. In dinner discussions at conferences. And so on...

The Mandate of Holacracy at Zappos

In 2013-14, Zappos mandated a way of working called 'holacracy.' The idea was, I think, to encourage more self-organization. More good outcomes. I'm sure the intentions were good at the time...

But there were big problems by late 2013.

By 2014, the "mandate of holacracy for self-organization at Zappos" was in big trouble, even as the press was celebrating 'holacracy' at Zappos as the future of work, the shining example, the path forward in the new world of work.

But there were big problems. Lots of resistance. I heard the whispers through a friend on the inside, a person with access to the CEO.

Through that friend, I quietly offered some help (I had some consulting work inside the org previously,) and in Las Vegas a lunch meeting was arranged with the CEO.

I flew out there. I showed up with a file folder with some Open Space stuff inside. We ate tacos.

I talked to Tony, the CEO, and briefly explained OST. I took a few questions. We had a nice lunch.

The result was that, a couple weeks later, Tony did experiment with a very brief OST of 2 hours at a Zappos all-hands meeting. No burning issue. No proceedings, etc.

That was it. No further follow-through. No follow-up calls.

I did not chase the CEO. But after a few more weeks of silence, I did write this:

The Mandate of Holacracy at Zappos
https://newtechusa.net/the-mandate-of-holacracy-at-zappos/<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1heGTV-0007wu-4A&i=57e1b682&c=GYYsWhj9GJMaxmCqStUBHCeOk0YwbS4A95x4vnAwlwIMRV9ZViFViiQp1QwI8uPOk1gU313N8INHpP6x4UJxNC0OaGwZtLlZS5Diz867-g1Q3VVO9oMnaTaDdPIwkIXHjcSaTrkjgYBnO5mgMWRsOgIo_aHBCQTa71-UOn7EDmhPckmzNQzcniOv_h-shBce0tsSk6YAdXHYSnQqKq5su85GqZKGhnIYI_6M-Ua56uoP9vndQg-3uuB5bTPRRzgafvSvbuPRHmlm44rYuc4sCQ>
In case you have not heard, Zappos is rolling out a defined authority distribution scheme called “holacracy”.

The way everyone works will change. Every single employee will be forced to comply with a set of rules they had no part in creating.

At the time, the press was celebrating 'holacracy' at Zappos as the future of work, the shining example, the path forward in the new world of work.

Everyone in the press was applauding and citing what was going on at Zappos as "the future of work."

But there was A LOT of resistance to the mandate of 'holacracy' inside Zappos. All of that resistance might have been easily processed positively in Open Space, but the CEO did not select that option.

Instead, he issued this ultimatum:

ADOPT HOLACRACY OR LEAVE:
https://www.fastcompany.com/3044417/zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh-adopt-holacracy-or-leave<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1heGTV-0007wu-4A&i=57e1b682&c=LoiBhtu6xuWxrzd9L2TJ-PnDM31W_wp5CIV_Afj9-3UUSEcdpGWinDX2Yh-NqcXF4i2OJxHKEWCJEbhWSh_eHGj4hqHNdgBLAGaDtyCME6xZwYhD2ZJ3P_a4UnOiaQnfBehNRSGfR6S6G20dH55ZKxT19mHHhKwrbRJbQiRrpGj8pKS7APLCGcOlMAOChkfbRS8pTOebrjt_wG2fXW7NFszScuRQUuy9EjTSGmak_MkUp7X1i_HIJuFM4ZMXNTeiBDfjVsQkf_5RnhdiMIE7zG__KBWAL5hbolDId3MDdGI>
Last week, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sent his employees the following memo, provided to Fast Company by Zappos. In it he offers his employees an ultimatum: adopt Holacracy or quit.

Moral of Story: "Mandating self-organization" is misguided at best, and profoundly harmful and deeply disrespectful to people at worst. And:

1. All systems are open

2. All systems are self-organizing

3. Open Space can help

 I hope this story helps you Jake. This Google search leads to these listings if you want to examine the story in detail:

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=FqsMXdKZIoLktQXAzoOQBQ&q=holacracy+failure<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1heGTV-0007wu-4A&i=57e1b682&c=im9KY631AbFtxj94Dxi0wo9FvzB_0QwFovhxgnZNALSedC4O1gkY0ekKuZLCM2ohZWuY0yc7FTVfJ3C2c4jbn8GUFiF450YAP05UqJxmIs_Lz3INx28QooVE7sBq8Dnqe4PYledHyBaF3prQfBcQDB-ZfJSL3P1hK7au6Bmd9HyyAUVPQJtp2VnEnvmoyQ8fsJKUbO1t9ESp2PSJb9-G_-JOYkfEpGHR_hhk-7Tw-IKEsvqbM2l-kerRLKCzpLCJjqzORDf-86oO9rWIr40X2gahAiKJLuy06eM9NfYn0YA>

<Screen Shot 2019-06-21 at 5.53.32 AM.png>

Daniel Mezick
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On Jun 21, 2019, at 3:53 AM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org<mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:

Dear Jake and you others,

I am intriguing myself with your quest for pitfalls in regard to "implement self-organization".
If it is assumed that "self-organization" is inherent in all groups, organisations, systems and in all processes on this planet and in the universe and has been since the Big Bang, it would not be necessary to "implement self-organization".
In fact, attempting to "implement self-organization" could in itself be the pitfall. This would jive with the notion that a sure fire way to impede self-organization is to mess with it (that is, control it).

Picking up on what Rob just wrote
"By definition self organisation occurs despite any efforts to make it happen."
I suspect that
"Self-organisation is hampered by efforts to make it happen."

I also wonder if it would be helpful to distinguish between "self-organization" as we observe it everywhere around us (such as children self-organizing their game on a playground or a butterfly unfolding from a chrysalis or a break-out group in an os-event self-organizing their activities) and the "force of selforganization".

Assuming  that the force of selforganzation is behind self-organization it might be useful to focus on the "factors" that would support an environment in which the force of selforganization can thrive, unfold...

One of the stories we have is the development of OST itself. OST was dreamt up originally as a way to organize a conference in a few hours instead of a whole years work (a wonderful gift that was borne out of being bored with working hard). After it kept working in various settings with a vast minimum of pre-implemented structure, no panels, no speakers, only one facilitator... his originator began wondering on why it was working.

We know the rest of the story and have payed attention to the 5 or 6 or 7 prerequisites that now have been tested in thousands of events which need to be in place for the "force of selforganisation" to do its thing which we then perceive as "self-organization".

Its simple but not easy.
Is not facing that which seduces to twists, adulterations, creating surrogate cocktails...?

Greetings from Berlin
mmp

Am 21.06.2019 um 04:04 schrieb Juliane Martina Roell (Structure & Process) via OSList:
Jake Yeager via OSList schrieb am 20.06.19 um 19:31:
Hey everyone,

Does anyone know of organizations that attempted to implement self-organization but failed? If so, do you know some of the factors that contributed to the failure? We hear about the successes, like Semco and AES, but rarely about the failures. I'd like to understand better what the pitfalls are and also what the success rate is.
Hi Jake,
what do you mean by "implement self-organization"?
How would one go about doing that?
Best Regards,
Juliane.

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