Based on Sociocratic and Holacratic ideas, the presentation shows how you can convert a hierarchical operating system to an operating system based on networking, collaborative and agile principles.

1. Implementing a new
operating system
QUIT THE HIERARCHY -
TOWARDS A SELF-
TRANSFORMATIVE
ORGANISATION
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Because … The world has gone VUCA!
• All companies are software companies
• Always beta
• Disruptive innovation
• Hyper-competition
• Big data = new oil
• Agile strategising
• Customer is king/queen
• Transparency
• Interconnectivity
• Employee branding
• Multiple channels
• Continuous feedback
• Exponential organisations
VOLATILITY
The nature and dynamics of change and
the nature and speed of change forces
and change catalysts.
UNCERTAINTY
The lack of predictability, the prospects for
surprise and the sense of awareness and
understanding of issues and events.
COMPLEXITY
The multiplex of forces, the confounding
of issues and the chaos and confusion
that surround an organisation.
AMBIGUITY
The haziness of reality, the potential for
misreads and the mixed meanings of
conditions; cause-and-effect confusion
V
U
C
A
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Impact?
V
U
C
A
LIMITED
PREDICTABILITY
• What can be predicted?
• The extent of what can
be predicted?
• How far into the future
can we predict?
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The three gaps of hierarchy
Time gap
Social gap
Functional gap
• Hierarchy
• Centralized decision power
• Rigid information pathways
• Departmental structure
• Slow innovation & learning
• Build for effective mass
production and production lines
• Vertical communication lines
• Harmonize
• Wireachy
• Decentralized decision power
• Open source information sharing
• Team structure
• Fast innovation & learning
• Build for fast transformation of ideas
into new products and services
• Horizontal communication lines
• Diversity
Centralised
responsibility and
decision power
Distributed
responsibility and
decision power

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THE CORE
OF AGILITY
Distributed knowledge,
decision and empowerment
Processes
Structures
Leadership
Employees
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WHAT?

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LALOUX’S
CATEGORIES FOR
ORGANISATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
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Power
Fear
Chaos
Command
authority
Work
division
Mafia
Gangs
Militia
Military
State
Church
Hierarchy
Stability
Control
Long-term
planning
Process
Roles
University Big
organisations
Competition
Profit
Objectives Innovation
Accountability
Meritocracy
Stakeholder
Culture
DelegationShared values
Engagement
Customer focus
Distributed
leadership
Purpose-
driven
Anti-fragile
organisation
Wholeness
Self-
management
Evolutionary
purpose
Red
Amber
Orange
Green
Teal

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Many organisational designs at the teal level
Embedded teams –
Holacracy
Connected teams –
Sociocracy
Paralleled teams
Loosely connected
networks
Hybrid
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CENTRAL TO MOST
MODELS IS THE
TEAM OR CIRCLE
STRUCTURE

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WHY
WHAT
HOW
EMPOWERING THE
TEAM AND THE
ROLES

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THE ORGANISATION
EMERGES AS A
CONNECTED
HIERARCHY OF
PURPUSES AND
ACCOUNTABILITIES

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To connect the organization you have organisational roles
SECRETARY FACILITATOR LEAD
Past
What needs to be revisited
• Deadlines for roles
• Deadlines for decisions
• Backlog
• Log keeping
Present
Topics for the agenda
• Prioritised agenda
• Plan for facilitation
• Ensure necessary information
• Meeting attendees
• Expectations for results
Into the future
What we need to do to move on
• Request from circle member
• External requests
• New initiatives and
impression
• Possible priorities

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And to fulfil purposes and accountabilities you create all the operational
roles you need
X
Name
• Purpose
• Accountabilities
• Domain
• Steward: …
Z
Name
• Purpose
• Accountabilities
• Domain
• Steward: …
Y
Name
• Purpose
• Accountabilities
• Domain
• Steward: …

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HOW?

15. IT’S A
CONTINUOUS
100% centralised
responsibility and
decision power
100% distributed
responsibility and
decision power

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A HOLISTIC
APPROACH TO
ORGANISATIONAL
TRANSFORMATION
Assumptions
Emotions
Knowledge
Qualifications
Inner Outer
Us
Me
Actions
Behaviour
Capabilities
Values
Culture
Structure and
processes
Organisational
design
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Implementing: Speedy, agile and experimental approach
DesignFeedback
Learning
Idea
Prototyping
Insights

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The phases of transforming your organisation
Individual
qualifications and
capabilities
Leader and
employee training
Department:
Implementing a new
operating model
Existing department
implements new
processes and
structures
Organisation:
Implementing a new
operating model
Whole organisation
implements new
processes and
structures
Inspiration phase Implementation phase

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Processes towards becoming a self-transformative organisation
Transformations
Activities(examples)Impact
• Understanding the theories
and the why
• Understanding own journey
• Insights into operating models
• Clear definition and understanding of the
organisation’s purpose and responsibility
• Defining individual roles and responsibilities
• Clarity of the different roles’ impact on purpose
and responsibility
• Establishing a structure of responsibility
Purpose
Evolutionary purpose-driven organising
• Clear meeting structures and
processes
• Implementing consent and objection
decisions
• Ability to decide in your own role
• Holistic and consultation perspective
• Autonomous start-up, reformulation
and continuous transformation of
circle and role structures that ensure
the fulfilment of organisational
purpose based on experienced
tensions
Building momentum
Inspiration
Structures
Create clarity
Distribute authority
Processes
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• Structure, follows purpose
• Each journey is different
• Build local solutions to local problems as they appear inspired by everything
• Old problems surface in the transformation
• Big challenge to unlearn hierarchical behaviour
• Emerging agile plan in the inspiration phase
• Accept a period of double organizational structure and the confusion
• Build moments of clarity
• You can use the hierarchy to dissolve the hierarchy
• Require a lot of different tools to address a diverse multiple pool of
problems
• It’s an action learning process
What have we learned from the projects
so far?

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The quick start-up approach
Formulate or adjust a delegated common committed purpose of the circle: Why are we here? And what are we going to do and deliver?
Our purpose is to ... by doing ...
Describe and formulate the operational roles in the circle and team as a function that
supports the circle purpose. Who is doing what, and how does that fit the purpose?
My role is ... by doing ...
Present, nominate and select the organisational roles of Lead, Facilitator and Secretary (see role descriptions).
Choose different people to fulfil each role and use them to govern your processes.
Learn, implement and apply the meeting processes and structure in your meeting:
a) Meeting structure, especially information sharing, feedback/input, decision
b) Consent and objection
c) Tension processing
In most cases, this requires training from experienced trainer.
Start to have meetings. Register tension learning to differentiate between operational (what we
are doing) and policy decision (how we are doing stuff).
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Contact information
Phone +45 3085 8049
Skype jacobbtheilgaard
Twitter Jbtheilgaard
E-mail jath@implement.dk
://dk.linkedin.com/in/jacobbtheilgaard
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