Exploring agility and new forms of organization
This page provides links to relevant articles and presentation materials on agile organizations, Holacracy and related issues. It was created to support an event run at Ashridge Executive Education, July 4, 2018. It is updated to include important new materials. Visit the event page.
Most of us sense that there is something wrong with our organizations: too much control, too little inspiration; too much transactional behaviour, too little collaboration; too much efficiency, too little agility.
We also read about exciting new organizational forms, sometimes referred to as ‘managing without managers’, at other times given labels, like ‘Holacracy’, ‘Adhocracy’ or ‘Teal’.
Most of us have experienced the thrill, energy and effectiveness of a self-directed team, the uncertainty, chaos and confusion of insufficient leadership or the demotivation, time wasting and bureaucracy of too much control.
We also hear the names of companies like Zappos, Wholefoods, Semco, Spotify and Morning Star. Companies that are either committed to a different way of organizing or are experimenting with new forms of organization.
This event is about exploring these new forms of organization. We want you to gain three benefits:
-
You will understand better what is possible: what some example companies are really doing.
-
You will develop a list of the design principles that are helping organizations operate with less structure and less hierarchy
-
You will experience what it feels like to be part of a structure-light organization
After attending, you will be able to guide experiments with these new forms in your organization.
Workshop presentations
Exploring Agility and New Forms of Organization - July 2018
Siemens - G2G Holacracy experiment
Lessons from ING's Agile organisation
Browse the topic
Holacracy
Despite Its Flaws, Holacracy Is Saving The Future of Business
Forbes magazine
A conversation with Annemieke Verhoeff, on Medium
The rules and processes of Holacracy
Holacracy.org
Julia Cullen, March 2018
Brian Robertson on Holacracy (18 mins)
Spotify's video on Holacracy (13 mins)
Zappos video on Holacracy (4 minutes)
Agile
By Julian Birkinshaw
by Darrell K. Rigby, Jeff Sutherland, and Hirotaka Takeuchi
Harvard Business Review, May 2016 issue
By Darrell K. Rigby, Jeff Sutherland, and Andy Noble
Harvard Busniess Review, June 2018
McKinsey on Agile
How to create an agile organization
Survey of current trends in agile adoption, October 2017
The keys to organizational agility
Interview, December 2015
Agility lessons from utilities
Sven Heiligtag, Dominik Luczak and Eckart Windhagen, December 2015
Other forms of organisation
Reinventing Management
Part 1: What Color Is Your Organization?
Reinventing Management
Part 2: What Happens When No One Is In Charge?
by Rod Collins, Director of Innovation, Optimity Advisors, on Huffington Post
Company examples
Spotify 1 https://corporate-rebels.com/spotify-1/
Spotify 2 https://corporate-rebels.com/spotify-2/
Zappos https://corporate-rebels.com/zappos/
Decathelon https://corporate-rebels.com/revolutionizing-a-retail-giant/
Buurtzorg https://corporate-rebels.com/buurtzorg/
Related issues
Sharing power: why it requires deep personal change
by Robert Anderson and William Adams
People Want Power Because They Want Autonomy
by Julie Beck, on The Atlantic (reporting on a study conducted by researchers from University of Cologne, University of Groningen, and Columbia University)