The Dolt's Guide To Self-Organization

The Dolt’s Guide to Self-Organization
Jurgen Appelo
jurgen@noop.nl
version1

Goal #1OK, so what is self-organization really?

Goal #2How can we make self-organization work?

Agenda
Self-organization
Direction
Delegation
Communication
Conclusion

We have been taught aboutlinear systems

But then reality confronted us withnon-linear systems

That is like teaching people all about aboutfruit flies

Huh?
And then lumping everything else together inthe group of… non-fruit flies

Let’s adopt a more realistic approach
First, there was a
(big)bang!

…and then strings formed particles

…and particles formed molecules

…and molecules formed solar systems

…and living cells

…and cells formed species

…and species formed groups

…and ecosystems

…and economies

…and every system organized itself.

Self-organization… a definition
“Self-organization is a process of attraction and repulsion in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization

Organization withoutmanagement?

but…

Self-organization has a dark side…

Self-organization… the dark side
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agder/2783124139/

“Nature is not cruel, pitiless. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous -- indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.”- Richard Dawkins

But people care…about value.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sukanto_debnath/504258852/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suneko/92395757/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/104661075/

“Self-organization requires that the system is surrounded by a containing boundary. This condition defines the "self" that will be developed during the self-organizing process.”
http://amauta-international.com/iaf99/Thread1/conway.html

The containing boundary has a chance to direct self-organizationtowards value

Agenda
Self-organization
Direction
Delegation
Communication
Conclusion

Don’t go here!
Go there!
Directed self-organization

Governance + leadership
Don’t go here!
Go there!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/egadapparel/3212007816/

Self-organization is the norm

Management is the special case

We all manage something every day

But managementmust be balanced

Three levels ofself-organization
Self-organized
Self-selected (= self-designed)
Self-organized and…
The system selects its own members
Self-directed (= self-governed)
Self-selected and…
No management outside the system

And then there’s
Emergence…
Supervenience
Emergent properties appear at a higher level that didn’t exist in the components
Not just aggregation
Impossible to “build” the systemas an aggregate from the components
Downward causality
The emergent properties have a real effect on the lower-level components

Emergent,but not self-organizing

Self-organizing,but not emergent

A development
team
Emergent +self-organizing

The Darkness Principle
“Each element in the system is ignorant of the behavior of the system as a whole [...] If each element ‘knew’ what was happening to the system as a whole, all of the complexity would have to be present in that element.”
http://iscepublishing.com/ECO/ECO_other/Issue_6_3_10_FM.pdf

The Law of Requisite Variety
“If a system is to be stable the number of states of its control mechanism must be greater than or equal to the number of states in the system being controlled.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_%28cybernetics%29

In human terms…
A team is too complex to manage by just one person.
Only people have the ability to manage complexity.

Therefore, management requires…
Distributed
governance and leadership

Agenda
Self-organization
Direction
Delegation
Communication
Conclusion

Managers mustbe good at
Direction
and Delegation

Managing alifeless system
is all about instruction

Managing aliving system
is all about communication

Managetechnical peoplewithtechnical managers
Improved
communication
Both good at giving instructions

Three levels ofmaturity in empowerment
Light(low impact)
Example: coding guidelines, workshops
Moderate (medium impact)
Example: self-education, tool selection
Advanced(high impact)
Example: self-selection, open salaries

Seven levels ofauthority in empowerment
Tell: make decision as the manager
Sell: convince people about decision
Consult: get input from team before decision
Join: make decision together with team
Advise: influence decision made by the team
Confirm: ask feedback after decision by team
Delegate: no influence, let team work it out

Empowerment requiresmaturity and authority(increase both gradually)

Choose
Empower the team
empowerindividuals
or
(sorry, no magic formula)

A good mix of empowerment
Technical
Business
Process
Don’t empower people in just one area!

The delegation Checklist
Are tools available?
Understanding of results?
Boundary conditions clear?
When is the work due?
What does progress looks like?
How often to report?
Coaching available?
Is risk factor addressed?
Right empowerment skills?
Right level of authority?
Individuals or to teams?
Right order of delegation?
Discrete chunk of work?
Skills to do the work?
Right format for work products?
Adapted from: Behind Closed Doors (Rothman, Derby)

Empowerment is an investment
Beware of the micromanagement trap
(no patience while waiting for ROI)

Paradox: empowerment increases status

Agenda
Self-organization
Direction
Delegation
Communication
Conclusion

Manageindividuals(to protect the self-organizing system)

Managetop management(to protect the self-organizing system)

Managethe environment(to protect the self-organizing system)

1) Trust your people

2) Earn trust from your people

3) Help people to trust each other

4) Trust yourself

The four types of trust

Agenda
Self-organization
Direction
Delegation
Communication
Conclusion

Self-organization is the norm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wobblyturkey/527370752/

Management is the special case
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/3495664861/

Management = governance and leadership

Management = direction and delegation

The End

@jurgenappelo

This presentation was inspired by the works of many people, and I cannot possibly list them all. Though I did my very best to attribute all authors of texts and images, and to recognize any copyrights, if you think that anything in this presentation should be changed, added or removed, please contact me at jurgen@noop.nl.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

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The Dolt's Guide To Self-Organization

by Jurgen Appelo

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