The Agile Manifesto and Holacracy
What’s so agile about holacracy? The answer may surprise you…
A system of organizing called ‘holacracy’ has been getting quite a bit of attention lately. Zappos, the online shoe retailer, is struggling to adopt it, most recently offering severance to employees who prefer not to work under the holocracy system.
The holacracy system encourages a very strong focus on roles. And while people occupy roles, in holacracy, the people are said to “energize” them. The Role (big “R”) is the main thing. What people want, what people think and what people feel might actually be…. of secondary importance.
In the holacracy system, people are also said to be “sensors”, sensors who identify and process “tensions.”
The idea of people as sensors is interesting.
My home has sensors. They are hardware devices. Likewise, I have batteries at home. They energize hardware devices around my home, for example flashlights, transistor radios.
I wonder if people are being valued lower than roles in holacracy.
Are they? Are people just hardware in holacracy? People running on the holacracy “software?”
Is this hypothesis actually true? Let’s see…
…for evidence that what I am guessing might actually be true, look no further than Google (see related Google searches, listed at the end of this story.) The point is: in holacracy, people might be of secondary importance. Here is some evidence… a direct quote from the holacracy literature… (Source: view the source document here.)
“This structure has nothing to do with the people, and it is best defined without reference to them — people come in later, to energize the Roles the organization.” (emphasis added.)
Really? Nothing at all to do with the people?
But wait….there’s more. From the “holacracy constitution…” (source link)
A Partner is responsible for sensing “Tensions” for that Role and processing them.
Wait. You mean, like a computer? Like a piece of hardware?
Now, the Agile Manifesto is the foundational document of the Agile movement.
The very first value is as follows, quoting verbatim…
“People and Interactions over processes and tools.”
Agile and holacracy
The holacracy system is claiming influences and lineage from the Agile movement.
Here is what the “history of holacracy” says about the influence of the Agile movement on the design of holacracy:
“…agile calls for a feedback-driven evolutionary approach to design and delivery, for providing customers with an empirically-grounded and continuous flow of value, so we integrated that at the process level and instilled it in the culture….
Now, let’s fast-forward the story, to 2010 and beyond…
…people… as sensors?
The people…(small “p” ?) as ‘energizers’ of Roles? (Big “R” ?)
Are these ideas about people as ‘energizers’ (batteries) and ‘sensors’ (simple hardware) genuinely aligned with the Manifesto?
What ever happened to…
People and Interactions over process and tools?
Since the first value listed in the Manifesto is “People and Interactions over process and tools”, I’m having more that a little trouble reconciling how people clearly defined as “sensors” and “energizers” in holacracy are more valuable than “Roles” in this framework.
Is it just me? Am I the only one questioning the characterization of people as “sensors” and “energizers”…in a process…a process that runs on a tool?
Again: the “holacracy” literature says, literally: (Source: view the source document here.)
“This structure has nothing to do with the people, and it is best defined without reference to them — people come in later, to energize the Roles the organization.” (emphasis added.)
Help me with this: The language in holacracy appears to be incompatible with both respect for people (a Lean value) and Agile itself.
What am I missing? How can this system claim an Agile pedigree?
***
Related Links:
Humans as “Sensors:”
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=holacracy+sensors
Humans (as batteries?) …“energizing Roles:”
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=holacracy+Energizing+Roles
Zappos to employees: Get behind our ‘no bosses’ approach, or leave with severance:
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About the Author…
DANIEL MEZICK is an author, management consultant, and keynote speaker. He is the formulator of OpenSpace Agility, a technique for creating rapid, effective and lasting enterprise agility. He is the author of THE CULTURE GAME, a book describing sixteen patterns of group behavior that make any team smarter. Daniel’s client list includes Capital One Bank, INTUIT, CIGNA, SEIMENS Healthcare, Harvard University, TRAVELERS Insurance, and many smaller enterprises. Learn more and contact Daniel at www.DanielMezick.com.
