The Way of Pez — A model for self-determination in the workplace

Taking nonviolent communication as a cue, there are two ways to manage an organization: through coercion (command and control) or through mutual respect (collaboration). Command and control management is attractive because it is fairly efficient versus the meandering inefficiency of debate and free will. Compare China’s fairly efficient authoritarian rule versus USA’s or the UK’s inefficient democracy.

Command and control is effective for large public works, where you want specialization and minimal debate.

The command and control structure can mobilize hundreds of thousands of people on a single goal. When well orchestrated, major initiatives can be completed quickly. Poor performers and troublemakers are weeded out, so only the best remain. It’s no wonder that most companies operate this way. But this approach isn’t sustainable and tends to burn people out (which may be by design if you are a cynical founder). People are often motivated by fear, guilt, and greed, which are unhealthy.

When individuals are empowered, positive self-organization manifests without the need for top-down control.

What’s the alternative? A number of innovative companies, such as Visa, Valve, Zappos, Netflix, use an organizational principle based on free agency and self-organization. In other words, allow people to make decisions and give them the support they need. This model can be profound and lead to a sustainable organization, personal growth, not to mention economic success. So why isn’t it more widespread? Because it’s hard. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying.

And that’s what we’re doing at Pez.AI. Without further ado, here is our (draft) version of a self-organizing management system. In addition to defining principles (right to autonomy and self-actualization) and purpose (helping others), it also defines a very simple project management system that is self-regulating. We focus on growing our talent internally (nearly infinite supply) instead of looking for “stars” (finite supply). That means we emphasize training and teaching, which requires some guardrails to help people be as effective as possible while learning on the job. Balancing continuous learning with productivity eventually becomes second nature, which is the start of a virtuous cycle.

One area that is conspicuously missing is a model for compensation. This is a work-in-progress and something I will be exploring in the coming weeks.

We’re at the start of our journey and looking for feedback and comments. Let us know what you think or give us a clap.

Brian Lee Yung Rowe is Founder of Pez.AI, the chatbot platform for data-driven digital empowerment. Join the beta to see how bots can increase the impact of your organization.