Holacracy is a system of organizational governance that seeks to distribute power through a hierarchy of circles (a "holarchy"). Unlike traditional
The headlines rolled across my feed like the credits on a blockbuster movie. Something big seemed to be happening but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It seemed that Zappos—the popular business management poster child for happy employees and customers—just announced it was adopting some new-fangled “boss-less,” “hierarchy-less,” “structure-less” management system called Holacracy. “Hola-what?” I said to myself as I started clicking links. Aimee Groth at Quartz wrote: “Zappos is going holacratic: no job titles, no managers, no hierarchy,” while the Washington Post headlined with, “Zappos Says Goodbye To Bosses,” and the Canadian Broadcast Company led with “Holacracy management style eliminates all bosses, titles.” I’ve been around long enough to know that what the media was reporting would be far removed from the truth. I also had the inkling that the level of publicity that Zappos generates made it likely that Holacracy would become the next buzzword in management in 2014. Paul Herbert captured it well: “A new word crept into HR’s vernacular last week: holacracy. Better get used to seeing it.” Each year I attend two personal/professional development workshops for my own education and growth. After trying to make sense of Holacracy through their website materials and recorded webinars, in the spirit of exploration I decided to dive deeper and make Holacracy one of my annual workshops. I signed up for their 1/2-day Taster Workshop followed by a 5-day Practitioner Certification Training in Las Vegas hosted by Holacracy founder Brian Robertson. A few weeks later I hopped in my car to make the trek from my home in Santa Barbara across the desert to Vegas. The seminar turned out to be located just down the block from the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop of History Channel fame. As I drove by their shop at 1pm on […]
Yammer Co-founder Adam Pisoni is on a mission: To spread the word about responsive company models. Here's how Holacracy fits into this movement.
Break free from rigid hierarchies. Holacracy empowers teams with a self-organizing system designed for clarity, adaptability, and real decision-making power.
A holacracy is a management strategy and an organizational structure where the power to make important decisions is distributed throughout an organization. It differs from conventional management hierarchies where power is in the hands of a select few. The core principle of a holacracy is self-organization where employees organize into several teams and then work in a self-directed fashion toward a common goal.
Wat is de nieuwe manier van organiseren en samenwerken? Het heet ‘Holacracy’ en sinds het verschijnen van de memo is het de nieuwste managementhype.
As many nonprofits look at the enormous potential benefits of building shared leadership in and around their organizations, they will surely stumble across the holacracy model, but does it offer a real path forward? In this article, a veteran of one change process intelligently critiques the model, providing guidance on what other organizations may wish to avoid. This is the first of a 3-part series on shared leadership we will run over the coming month.
Sketchnote formation sociocratie avec Fabien et Patricia Chabreuil, juin 2014
Why Holacracy doesn't fit these boxes.
Holacracy is an alternative management structure that does not rely on manager roles or job titles.
A powerful presentation at SXSW called on businesses to dump out dated management hierarchies and embrace 'holacracy'.
Agile and Holacracy are so superior to our traditional methodologies for running businesses and communities and for creating anything new, they should be adopted everywhere immediately.
