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Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by jcrites on Thursday April 23, 2015 @10:33PM (#9431115)
An summary of the article and the concept that Tony Hsieh wrote:

"We’ve been operating partially under Holacracy and partially under the legacy management hierarchy in parallel for over a year now. Having one foot in one world while having the other foot in the other world has slowed down our transformation towards self-management and self-organization. [W]e haven't made fast enough progress towards self-management, self-organization, and more efficient structures to run our business.

"After many conversations and a lot of feedback about where we are versus our desired state of self-organization, self-management, increased autonomy, and increased efficiency, we are going to take a "rip the bandaid" approach to accelerate progress towards becoming a [self-managing] organization. As of 4/30/15, in order to eliminate the legacy management hierarchy, there will be effectively be no more people managers." He goes onto to describe more about how this will work.

What does Holacracy entail?

"Holacracy is a social technology or system of organizational governance in which authority and decision-making are distributed throughout a holarchy of self-organizing teams rather than being vested at the top of a hierarchy", according to Wikipedia.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by golemotron on Friday April 24, 2015 @05:49AM (#9432229)
> "Holacracy is a social technology or system of organizational governance in which authority and decision-making are distributed throughout a holarchy of self-organizing teams rather than being vested at the top of a hierarchy", according to Wikipedia.

Yet there he is at the top of the hierarchy telling people to do it.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by athrun on Friday April 24, 2015 @09:40AM (#9433182)
The first comment below the article points to an interview by Brian Robertson (Holocracy author) which discuss precisely this irony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOpVJIQWgqk

In traditional organizations, ultimate power comes from the top so implementing a large scale change requires a heavy handed top down approach.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by gadders on Friday April 24, 2015 @07:28AM (#9432531)
What if the holocracy decides they like hierarchies?
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by ph0rque on Friday April 24, 2015 @09:08AM (#9433020)
Brian: Please, please, please listen! I've got one or two things to say.

The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!

The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!

Brian: You're all different!

The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!

Man in crowd: I'm not...

The Crowd: Shhhhh!

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by rkuykendall-com on Friday April 24, 2015 @12:50PM (#9434482)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjz16xjeBAA

Quote starts at 1:20. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by kbenson on Friday April 24, 2015 @01:28PM (#9434757)
I admit I was thinking while reading the email that it would be rather funny if their ad hoc emergent groups elected managers to manage them, and replicated a hierarchical structure.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by rickcusick on Friday April 24, 2015 @09:12AM (#9433038)
Right? My irony detection meter pegged when I read this article/email. Beautiful needs, tragic strategy.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by honksillet on Friday April 24, 2015 @01:47PM (#9434884)
You have to love invented Jargon that relies on invented Jargon in its definition.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by classicsnoot on Friday April 24, 2015 @06:55PM (#9436427)
Can you give an example of jargon that is not fabricated? Most people here have no idea what an onky bonk, a cookie, or a butcher flag is, precisely because they don't do film lighting. Jargon seems to spring up when people of different skill sets get together and do something without much in the way of previous models to pull from.

Not arguing for or against holocracy, just think it is interesting that the jargon is what you seem twerked by m8 </s>.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by ExpiredLink on Friday April 24, 2015 @08:49AM (#9432938)
The opposite of formal management and hierarchy isn't "self-management" and "self-organization" but informal power structures and hierarchies. Ultimately, less security and more social pressure and control for the individual. Brave new world of work.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by mauricemir on Friday April 24, 2015 @08:59AM (#9432979)
Yes non conformists do not do well in these sort of organizations
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by angelbob on Friday April 24, 2015 @07:26PM (#9436511)
It's an interesting idea. It has many standard pitfalls, as a 1970s paper, "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" points out: http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm

Basically, informal systems are, by their nature, harder to regulate. And "unregulated" is not the same as "works well and fairly."

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by 21echoes on Friday April 24, 2015 @01:13PM (#9434649)
good thing Holacracy is everything except "informal", then.. literally the core idea is that you take the implicit jobs of management and make them explicit & open, and allow them to be claimed by more than just one individual.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by mauricemir on Friday April 24, 2015 @05:40AM (#9432200)
So informal high school cliques vs a Hierarchy - I can guess what the average outcome will be.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by dandare on Friday April 24, 2015 @08:05AM (#9432700)
This is my main concern. I have never studied the concept in detail but I don't see how self-organisation addresses any problem.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by ultimape on Friday April 24, 2015 @11:06AM (#9433811)
Self organization, when mirroring a biological system (such as our immune system) can be co-opted by cancers and auto-immune causing pathogens.

No system is perfect.

Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by mauricemir on Friday April 24, 2015 @10:42AM (#9433634)
well i have worked at a worker coop we (collectively) did have over all control but there where still managers.
Re:Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Adopt Holacracy Or Leave by peteretep on Friday April 24, 2015 @06:33AM (#9432368)

    > there will be effectively be no more people managers
I hope they've got some shit-hot HR and legal