Week 6, 2020
Self-Organization: Management, Direction, and Governance
Each week I share three ideas for how to make work better. And this week, that means getting to grips with a bit of terminology.
Why am I writing about this? Terms like self-management, self-direction, self-organization, and self-governance get thrown around a lot when talking about the future of work. And they are often used interchangeably. But that’s a mistake. Because as I see it, they all mean slightly different things.
Let’s dig in.
Self-Management
Your team is self-managed if (1) it works towards a goal defined outside the team but (2) has the authority to decide how to get there given the resources it has at its disposal.
EXAMPLE: A company decides to launch a new initiative. It assembles a team for that purpose and gives it autonomy to define its own methods of working.
Self-Direction
Your team is self-directed if (1) it works within a governance structure defined outside the team and without their involvement but (2) has the authority to define its own goals and methods of working.
EXAMPLE: A company decides to put a team in charge of a particular function. It then gives that team the authority to decided what to do to and why.
Self-Governance
Your team is self-governed if (1) it works to fulfill a purpose defined outside the team but (2) has the authority to reconfigure itself in response to the environment in which it finds itself.
EXAMPLE: A company decides to turn a team into its own business unit. It then gives that unit the authority to reorganize itself so as to remain fit-for-purpose.
Two things.
First: note that these are my definitions based on my readings. Others might disagree. And so for clarity, let’s call this the WorkMatters! framework of Self-Organization.
Second: self-management, self-direction, and self-governance are degrees of self-organization. And they’re quite different. Yes also similar. Because what self-organized teams all have in common is that they have a shared purpose. To borrow a term from Netflix’s Culture Deck: they are loosely coupled (some more than others) and highly aligned. They’re on the same path. But they enjoy degrees of autonomy in regards to how they might fulfill that purpose.
That’s all for this week.
Until next time, stay calm.
