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DDO (deliberately developmental organisation) - Keagan & Lahey

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DDO (deliberately developmental organisation) - Keagan & Lahey

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A hearty welcome to the refreshed

This wiki is based on the book Reinventing Organizations by Frédéric Laloux. Its primary purpose is to serve as a practical guide for leaders who are reinventing their organization and are looking for inspiration as they upgrade specific management practices in their organization.

It is a labor of love, the work of a joyful community, dedicated to soulful organizations everywhere coming to life. We invite you to join us and contribute to add cases and insights to this wiki.

Click here for accessing translations of this Wiki (Hungarian, Chinese and Spanish are available today - Polish, Russian, French, Italian, Turkish, German and Portuguese are in progress)

Discover Teal Practices

A new paradigm in Practice

New and updated organizations
See all organizations

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A hearty welcome to the refreshed This wiki is based on the book Reinventing Organizations by Frédéric Laloux. Its primary purpose is to serve as a practical guide for leaders who are reinventing their organization and are looking for inspiration as they upgrade specific management practices in their organization.

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[toolkit] NWOW manual (meetings, roles, agreements, etc. templates)

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[Case/Example] Tesla's Anti-handbook

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[blog] Niels Pflaeging Complexitools, three layers of organisation

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Org Physics: The 3 faces of every company

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How a triad of structures allows companies to absorb complexity

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[toolkit, link list] Tom Nixon's link list for DIY

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Links and resources for when you're small or lacking cash to invest in expensive coaches and consultants, but want to challenge traditional management dogma in your organisation.
1. Re-imagining organisation development

Overall, don't see developing your organisation as a linear design and implementation process. Instead, it's a continuous evolution: Start by noticing where the organisation is feeling tensions or difficulties, then use the resources in this article for inspiration about different ways of working that might help. Then run small safe-to-try experiments to learn by doing. And repeat. If you do this, gradually things will improve.

2. Exploring organisational tensions and alternative practices

These decks of cards from org transformation firm The Ready [full disclosure: I'm a partner at The Ready] help teams get to a shared understanding of what's getting in the way of everyone doing the best work of their lives. Then they suggest practices you can try or adapt to address these tensions.

3. Sociocracy

This system of organising has lots of patterns you can use for alternative ways of structuring and working.

Check out training from Sociocracy4all:

And also resources and training from Sociocracy 3.0:

A little word of advice:

Don't embark on an endeavour to 'Do Sociocracy'. Instead, use it as a source of inspiration to help you find the practices that work for your people in your context.

By the way, this is even truer if anyone suggests you try Holacracy.

4. Libraries of advice and working practices
Nobl Academy Prototyping.work
5. Audio and video

Insights for the journey video series on developing progressive organisations from Frederic Laloux.

Leadermorphosis podcast hosted by Lisa Gill.

6. Software tools

This one also starts with a word of advice:

Software will not solve your problems. It's all about people and ways of working.

Where software does help is when you are experimenting with particular practices and a tool can help you share or manage information. So, start with people and practices then find tools to help. Not the other way around.

A couple of very popular tools to check out: Slack for team communication, and Trello for managing lists of tasks.

And of course, I have to mention Maptio :)

If you get to a stage where you are thinking about your organisation less like a traditional management hierarchy, and instead as a pattern of areas of responsibility and people all contributing to one overall vision, then Maptio can help. It helps you visualise and share a picture of the organisation. It has already helped organisations to spot excessive duplication of effort; build greater accountability and transparency; and onboard new people to the organisation with less confusion.

Maptio screenshot

What have I missed?

What resources would you share with someone who wishes to lead their own organisation to a progressive future? Please leave a comment.

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Developing a self-managing organisation when you can't afford consultants

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Links and resources for when you're small or lacking cash to invest in expensive coaches and consultants, but want to challenge traditional management dogma in your organisation. Overall, don't see developing your organisation as a linear design and implementation process.

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[research article] Northwestern's take on 4 day workweek

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Skip to content

There's a reason more and more organizations are considering this option.

Lisa Röper

While talk of a four-day workweek is not new, it has picked up steam during the last two years, as the pandemic realigned the employer-employee dynamic and leaders have responded by offering flexibility as an employee incentive.

"The bargaining power is shifting towards workers," Friedrich says.

In a competitive labor market rocked by the Great Resignation, the option to provide employees a four-day workweek-either because the same number of hours are condensed into four days or because fewer hours are worked overall-has become increasingly appealing to employers.

"If your company is a first mover, you're putting yourself on the map as an employer who is trying something creative and new that benefits employees' mental and physical health," Friedrich says. "This is a way for companies to show that they want to be a leader in improving employee well-being."

Is a four-day workweek right for your organization? And if so, what can you do to increase the odds of making a successful transition? Here, Friedrich offers advice for leaders considering a change.

Momentum for the Four-Day Workweek

Momentum for the four-day workweek has been greatest in the European public sector. Iceland made headlines pre-pandemic for the success of two trials in which more than 2,500 public-sector employees worked fewer hours while being paid full-time, maintaining productivity, and experiencing increased well-being. Since then, Belgium passed labor reform that allows employees the right to condense their workweek into four days by working longer hours, while Scotland and Spain have launched pilots.

In the private sector, Unilever New Zealand is wrapping up its one-year trial, 30 companies in the U.K. are preparing a trial, and the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global is leading a global campaign for a six-month pilot project that commences in April. Here in the U.S., tech companies like Kickstarter and Bolt are ahead of the adoption curve, having recently made the four-day workweek permanent after successful trials.

With every successful pilot, the potential payoffs for organizations are becoming clearer. "Added flexibility makes many employees more productive per hour of work," Friedrich says.

He points out that a four-day workweek can also help companies address talent problems. "The evidence is quite positive for employees," Friedrich observes. "Workers are less stressed, they're potentially in better shape mentally and physically, and they're more fulfilled because they have time to do other things."

Still, it's important to acknowledge that not all industries, organizations, or functions will benefit equally from a four-day workweek. Friedrich points out that most of the benefits in terms of employee productivity, satisfaction, and well-being do not come when the workweek is crammed into four ten-hour days. "The goal is to genuinely reduce the number of hours," says Friedrich.

"The shorter week works best for knowledge and white-collar workers for whom productivity is not tied to fixed hours," Friedrich says. This is especially true for creative or strategic roles where taking breaks to pause and reflect helps employees return to work with new energy and focus. "So even though total hours are fewer, companies can do better over time."

This means that a four-day week-while appreciated by employees-might not actually make sense for a restaurant or call center, where employee output is tied to serving a fixed number of customers within a set timeframe.

Still, Friedrich points out that, even though low-skill workers may find it harder to increase productivity enough to make up for the fewer hours worked, many of these jobs feature high turnover rates. So a four-day work schedule could still be an attractive strategy for a company if increased retention means lower recruiting, onboarding, and training costs.

Get the Rollout Right

For companies that do decide to move forward on a four-day week, there are still many important decisions to consider. Organizations will need to evaluate whether participation is mandatory or optional (and for which roles), weigh any legal constraints from regulation or collective bargaining agreements, and determine if compensation will remain equal or be adjusted slightly to account for any unavoidable productivity changes. For instance, even a ten percent pay cut could be attractive to workers if it is accompanied by a twenty percent reduction in working hours. Or perhaps firms could begin with a trial period during which pay isn't cut at all to see if productivity is maintained.

A successful rollout will also require leaders to be clear on the initiative's goals, its definition of success, and how progress will be tracked and measured. For instance, goals such as employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity can measured through employee engagement surveys, employee turnover rates, and specific performance targets.

"There are quantitative aspects to productivity and retention, so companies need to have a system in place that allows them to do this properly," Friedrich says.

Companies that are already skilled at collecting and analyzing data could experiment with a four-day week and quickly see results. And the very best companies will measure progress with an eye toward not just benchmarking but finding new opportunities. For instance, a team's productivity may not be evenly distributed across the workweek: this insight could be used to optimize schedules that work for employees and for the company.

When rolling out a four-day workweek, many companies begin with a trial period of at least six months-long enough to capture data on the effects of the shift.

Friedrich also advises that companies consider starting small. A smaller-scale pilot allows for the opportunity to recognize and fix issues before broader implementation. It also provides the organizations with the flexibility to target the shift to specific roles-or even to revert back if things don't go so well.

Addressing Customer and Employee Concerns

Despite the many benefits, organizations transitioning to a four-day workweek will also need to keep a few potential pitfalls in mind. The first is the impact on customers and partners. "You don't want to disappoint your clients and customers with a day when the office is shut down and you're not reachable at all," he says. "So set up a staggered schedule in which employees take off different days rather than implementing a universal day off." Fortunately, many of the scheduling and communication tools in which companies invested during the pandemic can help employees coordinate their efforts.

There are also concerns that a four-day workweek may exacerbate inequalities among workers, especially if the benefit is optional for individuals. This is a harder nut to crack.

Leaving the choice of a four-day week to the individual-as Panasonic recently announced-risks leaving team members wondering whether saying yes-or no-could put them at a career disadvantage. Just as part-time work hinders women's career growth and increases wage gaps, the four-day workweek might deter career progressions if companies don't implement safeguards, Friedrich says.

"Is there going to be some signaling or stigma in who chooses this option? What does this mean for the speed and even opportunity to move up in your career?" Friedrich asks. "This is especially important if the company finds that employees who land in one group or the other are from groups that they're worried about in terms of inclusion and equity."

To minimize inequities, Friedrich advises companies to build "accountability systems" which track who decides project assignments and promotions as well as who benefits. The goal is to ensure that employees who work four-days have the same access to career-advancing opportunities as others.

"A lot of companies worry about diversity and inclusion, and what's often missing is better accountability and tracking efforts and somehow creating metrics to better measure the success of these initiatives."

With appropriate monitoring, organizations will, over time, determine if a four-day workweek impacts professional development. In some cases, people working at different speeds will impact their productivity, Friedrich admits.

"It might mean slower career progression if you make one choice or the other, so it's important for companies to be transparent."

Associate Professor of Strategy

Susan Margolin is a writer based in Boston.

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Is a Four-Day Workweek Right for Your Company?

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Skip to content There's a reason more and more organizations are considering this option. Lisa Röper While talk of a four-day workweek is not new, it has picked up steam during the last two years, as the pandemic realigned the employer-employee dynamic and leaders have responded by offering flexibility as an employee incentive.

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[blog]

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Where to focus to create a future-fit culture of innovation, agility, and adaptiveness

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[toolkit] social weaving labs and network leadership related input

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Network leadership trainings for purpose-driven individuals and organizations who want to learn about the benefits of impact networks and network leadership in a world of complexity and continual change.

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[tools] series of exercises, methods and tools to use in workshops

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Introduction

When you feel included and engaged, do you do a better job? Do you think teams in which people work well together produce much better results? Have you noticed the best ideas often come from unexpected sources? Do you want to work at the top of your intelligence and give the same opportunity to others?

If YES, we have found this is the kind of organization and community that people want to be part of. AND, Liberating Structures help make it happen.

So why is it that so many organizations of all stripes are filled with disengaged workers, dysfunctional groups and wasted ideas?

While there will always be some justification for blaming leaders (or professors and administrators in education), the more compelling and useful explanation is not that people involved are bad, stupid or incompetent, but rather that the practices they have all learned are neither adapted to today's realities nor designed to achieve the ideals listed above.

Unwittingly, the conventional structures used to organize how people routinely work together stifle inclusion and engagement.

Conventional structures are either too inhibiting (presentations, status reports and managed discussions) or too loose and disorganized (open discussions and brainstorms) to creatively engage people in shaping their own future. They frequently generate feelings of frustration and/or exclusion and fail to provide space for good ideas to emerge and germinate. This means that huge amounts of time and money are spent working the wrong way. More time and money are then spent trying to fix the unintended consequences.

Liberating Structures start with something so simple and essential as not to seem worth doing and end with something so powerful and profound that it hardly seems possible.

This website offers an alternative way to approach and design how people work together. It provides a menu of thirty-three Liberating Structures to replace or complement conventional practices.

Liberating Structures used routinely make it possible to build the kind of organization that everybody wants. They are designed to include everyone in shaping next steps.

Liberating Structures introduce tiny shifts in the way we meet, plan, decide and relate to one another. They put the innovative power once reserved for experts only in hands of everyone.

This alternative approach is both practical and feasible because Liberating Structures are quite simple and easy to learn. They can be used by everyone at every level, from the executive suite to the grassroots. No lengthy training courses or special talents are required. Mastery is simply a matter of practice. LS routinely unleash a vast reserve of contributions and latent innovations waiting to be discovered.

Every person interested in leading change-in schools, hospitals, foundations, agencies, and businesses-can use Liberating Structures to generate innovation and great results.

Liberating Structures are easy-to-learn microstructures that enhance relational coordination and trust. They quickly foster lively participation in groups of any size, making it possible to truly include and unleash everyone. Liberating Structures are a disruptive innovation that can replace more controlling or constraining approaches.

Click on any Liberating Structure below.

Leaders know that they would greatly increase productivity and innovation if only they could get everyone fully engaged. The challenge is how. Liberating Structures are novel, practical and no-nonsense methods to help you accomplish this goal with groups of any size.

Liberating Structures spark inventiveness by minimally structuring the way we interact while liberating content or subject matter. Very simple constraints unleash creative adaptability, generating better than expected results. Individual brilliance and collective wisdom are unbridled. Such a dramatic shift cannot be THAT simple, engaging, and powerful but it is. Read Getting Started if you are ready to liberate yourself.

By design, Liberating Structures distribute control so that participants can shape direction themselves as the action unfolds.

Learning Events

Immersion workshops are a great way to get started. Like a foreign language immersion course that temporarily relocates you away from a familiar culture, a LS immersion experience is a very effective way to learn. There are no presentations, facilitated discussions, status reports, brainstorming sessions, or open discussions. Only Liberating Strucutres arepracticed. Organizing a workshop for people in your working group can accelerate "fluency."

Check out News and Events for more immersion workshops and LS User Group meetings. Subscribe to LS News & get access to archives here.

Liberating Structures are immeasurably practical. Our world is increasingly complex, interdependent, and culturally diverse. Many of our most pressing challenges cut across geographic, cultural, and technical boundaries. Simple methods that help us work together productively are central to making progress.

Helpful Analogies
Like Wikipedia, LS create simple rules to guide and liberate everyone's contributions. Wikipedia's must-dos and must-not dos specify how anyone can write articles, edit content, reach consensus about the facts, and share with attribution. This structure makes it possible for a diverse community to generate and sustain accurate content that compares favorably with professionally edited encyclopedias. Like Wikipedia, LS is a disruptive innovation in regard to how we engage people in organizations.

Like improv jazz, LS sparks freedom that arises from shared understanding of simple rules. Great jazz comes from playing creatively within the context of melodic and harmonic structure. Like water in a river, LS takes the shape of the banks that it touches: adapting a similar pattern at every scale and in each local setting.

Below: watch this inspired video by Professor Arvind Singhal talking about liberating education and the role of changemakers. UnScripTED: Liberating Structures

Read this practical article "Tiny Tweaks That Help You Use LS" by Barry Overeem.

Simple Ways to Engage Everyone on Zoom: Learn Several Liberating Structures in 30 minutes from Media Changemakers on Vimeo.
Unscripted #2 Liberating Structures with Dr. Arvind Singhal from Media Changemakers on Vimeo.
Lisa Gill is a fabulous writer and top drawer interviewer. Her Leadersmorphosis series dives deeply into self organizing @ work. Put your ear to this interivew she conducts with Henri and Keith.

Below, enjoy scenes from the LCJP Restorative Justice Summit. Liberating Structures were used to organize a three day event full of learning, designed to advance the Restorative Justice movement. Restorative Justice (RJ) aims to create communities in which people feel safe by carefully structuring opportunities for offenders to make amends and victims to regain their personal power. Restorative Justice practitioners found Liberating Structures to be highly structured, liberating better than expected results.

2012 CO RJ Summit Video from LCJP on Vimeo.

LS were used to design the Transformation of Nursing summit. Coalitions from all 50 states and DC came together to advance the cause.

For the United Nations ITC-ILO, Henri and Keith offered a Liberating Structures immersion workshop and follow-up consulting sessions. (The Centre is in Turin Italy.) The focus was how to organize for promoting decent work and sustainable development by not over-helping but rather facilitating networked self-organization.

Ten Principles

While the individual LS microstructures are powerful separately, they function as an interrelated set which can transform an entire organization. The LS repertoire is inspired by ten liberating principles.

When we decide we belong together, LS principles help to guide behavior and leadership actions. Detailed descriptions here.

The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures book! Preview and buy on Amazon. The color paperback ($49.95 USD), black&white ($19.95 USD) and e-book are now available on the Amazon website. Amazon offers deep discounts and free shipping to some customers.

The development team at Holisticon is happy to announce that the Liberating Structures App is now available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores. A deep bow to their creative genius. Happy downloading!

Audio: A very playful Brave New Work podcast with Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans. On Liberating Structures with Lorenz Sell of Sutra and Keith. Lorenz asks the deepest questions about collective intelligence, generativity, and complexity science. (50 minutes) Coaching Zone Podcast with Keith and Dr. Krister Lowe. The focus is on how leaders and teams can develop more productive habits with LS. [45 minutes] Radio Interview with Meisha Rouser, organizational psychologist. The focus is on groups working at the top of their intelligence and imagination. And a third podcast interview with Amiel Handelsman that dips into specific LS microstructures and their use by groups to generate innovative cultures. [60 minutes].

Check out Falling Off the Horse while faciliating & leading with Liberating Structures. This article by Keith McCandless describes a personal path forward. It includes what is possible to stop doing when LS is integrated into your practice.

LS are inspired by complexity science. Listen to this entertaining RadioLab program on Emergence to learn about some of the underlying concept of complexity science.

LS User Groups (inventing and enlivening a new way to organize) Open Letter from a Grateful Student to All Educators
Rhapsody for Strings!

Below: early LS users and co-developers in Latin America, Europe, Canada and the USA.

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liberating structures, social invention.net, microstructures, disruptive innovation, behavior change, collaboration, social invention, diffusion of innovation, strategy, transformation, heuristics, complexity science, emergence

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[Conference/Summit] Management 3.0 event based on UnFix Model

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In January 2022, Jurgen Appelo, one of the most influential thinkers for modern management, leadership, and organization design, offered his model for "versatile organizations" to the world.

The unFIX model is more modern, versatile, and practical than currently popular approaches like SAFe, LeSS, or the so-called Spotify Model. It gives us an excellent opportunity to get inspired, learn together, and start (gradually) building versatile structures and dynamic teams. This conference is for everyone interested in designing organizations for continuous innovation and a better human experience.

READ MORE ABOUT THE UNFIX MODEL

The unFIXcon is the world's first conference on the design of versatile organizations using the unFIX model. We invite entrepreneurs, leaders, and change-makers to two days of impulses, exchanges, and solution-finding together in the inspiring space of the Seminaris Campus Hotel in Berlin on September 28 & 29, 2022.

Jurgen Appelo and other brilliant thinkers on agile management, leadership, and organizational design will hold talks and guide us through open spaces and workshops to inspire, discuss and develop the future of scaled agile organizations.

The unFIX model is a simple tool that helps you with versatile organization design. With a focus on continuous innovation and the human experience, the unFIX model facilitates gradual change and dynamic team building and managing the system.

For an introduction, get a cup of coffee and watch this short interview with Jurgen Appelo:

We are currently working on the schedule and the speaker lineup. So keep an eye on this space since we will be updating regularly.

Pim de Morree and Joost Minnaar Corporate Rebels

Five years ago, Joost Minnaar and Pim de Morree gave up promising careers. Frustrated with the slow, boring corporate world, they were determined to find and study organizations that could make work fun. They called themselves The Corporate Rebels.

Thinkers50 named them in the "Top 30 Emergent Management Thinkers In The World", and awarded them the "Radar Award". The Chartered Management Institute calls them "One of the new voices re-energizing management".

Hurry Up For Early Bird Tickets!

There's not that much time left, huh?

(Sales tax and platform fees are added during check-out.)

Book your overnight stay directly at the conference location while rooms are still available:
SEMINARIS ROOM BOOKING

Seminaris Hotels are dedicated to the future of creative meetings: They offer everything you need for modern trainings, workshops and conferences based on the concept of New Work.

With its home on the campus of the Freie Universität, surrounded by green nature, the Seminaris CampusHotel Berlin is located in a place that transforms a lot of knowledge into new goals and projects.

The Event & Conference Center provides a lively environment and creative spaces for exchange and inspiration.

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unFIXcon Berlin 28. / 29. September 2022

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In January 2022, Jurgen Appelo, one of the most influential thinkers for modern management, leadership, and organization design, offered his model for "versatile organizations" to the world. The unFIX model is more modern, versatile, and practical than currently popular approaches like SAFe, LeSS, or the so-called Spotify Model.

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[tool/pdf] 62 powerful questions card pack from Growing Agile

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[article series]great series with lots of actionable input on psych safety and difficult conversations

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The tools, resources, and ideas to help your agile team have better online retrospectives. From what is a retrospective to how do i facilitate a fun retro, you'll find the answers to your questions in the Ultimate Guide to Agile Retrospectives.

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[Conference/Summit]

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After the success of TATW2020, the team is taking no chances in preparing for a bigger, better, bolder Teal Around The World Conference 2021!

Now on its 2nd year, we stay true to the promise of transporting you into an immersive and engaging experience, together with all pioneers, thought leaders, influencers and followers from all over the world, into one virtual space to collaborate, to exchange perspectives, and to challenge the expression and boundaries of self-management, wholeness and evolutionary purpose, within the different spheres of life.

We are a diverse group of TEAL practitioners around the world, exchanging best practices and learning from each other's experiences to bring about positive change in organizations by enabling the core values of self-management, wholeness and evolutionary purpose.

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After the success of TATW2020, the team is taking no chances in preparing for a bigger, better, bolder Teal Around The World Conference 2021!

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[article] ... power dynamics are

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Drawing of 3 org charts: hierarchy, consensus, blah blah... they're just shapes!

We hosted a workshop on decentralised organising for the Civicwise network in Modena last week.

At one point I said, " I don't care about hierarchy, hierarchy is not the problem," and immediately felt the temperature in the room drop by a few degrees.

I know I can be provocative with my overly-concise use of language, so I wanted to take some space here to explain more thoroughly. It will take me a few minutes to describe my understanding of hierarchy and power, making the argument that this focus on "hierarchy" is a dangerous misdirection. Then in part 2, I share 11 practical steps that you can take to improve the power dynamics at your workplace, whether you're in a horizontal collective, decentralised company, hierarchical organisation, or a post-consensus social foam.

For this argument, we need to set aside our emotional and political reactions to the word "hierarchy". Let's pretend for a few minutes that we've never seen the horrible coercive inefficient hierarchies of human organisations, and just treat the word as a neutral scientific term. I'm thinking of hierarchy purely as a taxonomy, a way to map a system into nested relationships.

Take language for instance. If you tell me you hate fruit, I know not to offer you an apple. It would be impossible to make sense of the world without these hierarchical relationships.

Many natural systems can be understood through a hierarchical metaphor: a tree has a trunk and branches and twigs and leaves. I have no issue with that hierarchy. I don't think we need a revolution for leaves to overthrow their branches.

In this taxonomical view, hierarchy is an amoral metaphor, a map, a shape which allows me to efficiently explain that this is contained by that.

I don't think it is inherently unjust to have an organisation with some hierarchical forms. You might have a communications department, alongside an engineering department, and they may both be contained by some coordinating function.

In the kind of "self-managing" "flat" "non-hierarchical" or "less-hierarchical" organisations we work with at The Hum, org charts are usually drawn with friendly circles instead of evil triangles.

Take Enspiral, for instance. We frequently use a circular metaphor to draw a map of our the different roles in the network. I know the circle has symbolic importance for us, but... isn't it just a pyramid viewed from a different angle?

Roles at Enspiral: Members, Contributors, Friends

More than just an abstract semantic debate for word nerds, I believe that this fascination with "hierarchy" and "non-hierarchy" is a major problem. Focussing on "hierarchy" doesn't just miss the point, it creates cover for extremely toxic behaviour.

I have encountered so many organisations who describe themselves as "non-hierarchical", and wear that label as a badge of pride.

I'm guilty of this myself: having declared ourselves to be a "non-hierarchical" organisation, I'm unable to clearly see the un-just, un-accountable, un-inclusive, un-transparent, un-healthy dynamics that inevitably emerge in any human group. Calling ourselves "non-hierarchical" is like a free pass that gets in the way of our self-awareness.

Jo Freeman named this beautifully in The Tyranny of Structurelessness, where she argues that the informal hierarchies of a "structureless" group will always be less accountable and fair than a more formal organisation. It's worth reading the essay in full, but I'll pull out a couple paragraphs here to give you the flavour:

"Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing as a structureless group. Any group of people of whatever nature that comes together for any length of time for any purpose will inevitably structure itself in some fashion. The structure may be flexible; it may vary over time; it may evenly or unevenly distribute tasks, power and resources over the members of the group. But it will be formed regardless of the abilities, personalities, or intentions of the people involved. (...)

"This means that to strive for a structureless group is as useful, and as deceptive, as to aim at an "objective" news story, "value-free" social science, or a "free" economy. A "laissez faire" group is about as realistic as a "laissez faire" society; the idea becomes a smokescreen for the strong or the lucky to establish unquestioned hegemony over others. This hegemony can be so easily established because the idea of "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of informal structures, only formal ones. Similarly "laissez faire" philosophy did not prevent the economically powerful from establishing control over wages, prices, and distribution of goods; it only prevented the government from doing so. Thus structurelessness becomes a way of masking power, (...) usually most strongly advocated by those who are the most powerful (whether they are conscious of their power or not). As long as the structure of the group is informal, the rules of how decisions are made are known only to a few and awareness of power is limited to those who know the rules. Those who do not know the rules and are not chosen for initiation must remain in confusion, or suffer from paranoid delusions that something is happening of which they are not quite aware.

Freeman uses the word "structureless", which is specific to the context of her 1960's feminism. Today, you could swap "structureless" for "non-hierarchical" and get a very accurate diagnosis of a sickness that afflicts nearly every group that rejects hierarchical structures.

We're coming up to the 50th anniversary of this essay, and still it seems the majority of radical organisations have missed the point.

So I repeat: I don't care about hierarchy. It's just a shape. I care about power dynamics.

Yes, when a hierarchical shape is applied to a human group, it tends to encourage coercive power dynamics. Usually the people at the top are given more importance than the rest. But the problem is the power, not the shape. So let's focus on the problem.

"Power" is a complex, loaded word, so let's slow down again and unpack it.

My understanding borrows a lot from Miki Kashtan and Starhawk, who in turn borrow from Mary Parker Follett. (To follow this train of thought, read Kashtan's Myths of Power-With series and Starhawk's excellent short book The Empowerment Manual.)

Follett coined the terms "power-over" and "power-with" in 1924. Starhawk adds a third category "power-from-within". These labels provide three useful lenses for analysing the power dynamics of an organisation. With apologies to the original authors, here's my definitions:

power-from-within or empowerment - the creative force you feel when you're making art, or speaking up for something you believe in

power-with or social power - influence, status, rank, or reputation that determines how much you are listened to in a group

power-over or coercion - power used by one person to control another

I think words like "non-hierarchical", "self-managing" and "horizontal" are kind of vague codes, pointing to our intention to create healthy power relations. In the past, when I said "Enspiral is a non-hierarchical organisation", what I really meant was "Enspiral is a non-coercive organisation". That's the important piece, we're trying to work without coercion.

These days I have mostly removed "non-hierarchical" from my vocabulary. I still haven't found a great replacement, but for now I say "decentralised". But again, it's not the shape that's interesting, it's the power dynamics.

Here are the power dynamics I'm striving for in a "decentralised organisation":

1. Maximise power-from-within: everyone feels empowered; they are confident to speak up, knowing their voice matters; good ideas can come from anywhere; people play to their strengths; creativity is celebrated; growth is encouraged; anyone can lead some of the time.

2. Make power-with transparent: we're honest about who has influence; pathways to social power are clearly signposted; influential roles are distributed and rotated; the formal org chart maps closely to the informal influence network.

3. Minimise power-over: one person cannot force another to do something; we are sensitive to coercion; any restrictions on behaviour are developed with a collective mandate.

This sounds nice in theory, but how does it work in practice? I've been experimenting with these questions for years as a cofounder and a coach, so I have some practical suggestions for shifting power in each of the three dimensions.

You can read all about it in the second part of this essay: 11 Practical Steps Towards Healthy Power Dynamics at Work.
p.s. If you want to move your organisation towards healthier power dynamics, check p.p.s. Published by Richard D. Bartlett, with no rights reserved. You have my consent to reproduce without permission: different file formats are on my website. If you're feeling grateful you can support me on Patreon. for training and advice, online or face-to-face.

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We hosted a workshop on decentralised organising for the Civicwise network in Modena last week. At one point I said, " I don't care about hierarchy, hierarchy is not the problem," and immediately felt the temperature in the room drop by a few degrees.

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[website/platform] Playground for new ways of working - events, articles, free resources

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Reinventing Work exists to provide a playground & community for people interested in progressive & new ways of working.

We read together, write together, and learn together. We blog, we exchange coaching, we meetup, we support each other, we experiment, and above all - we practise.

We invite you to join our Slack community & main Meetup group, where you can join our regular events - everyone is welcome.

Where?

As well as online, Reinventing Work has gathered in:

- Asia: Singapore.

- Australia & NZ: , , Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney.

We gather online too - join our Slack community and look out for our online events.

Where Next?

More and more chapters are emerging and we'd love you to start one where you live. You don't need our permission, and we'll help you as much as we can. We have guidance for starting a new chapter, and you can contact Mark Eddleston for a chat.

Why?

Because work isn't working for too many people. Globally, 85% of us are disengaged at work and half of us here in the UK prefer a pay cut to our manager. Together, we need to change this.

How?

If only there was a one size fits all method to put that stat right. While that's not the case, there are patterns and practices found in organisations that have successfully reinvented the way that they work. Reach out and our community will be happy to share.

Stay in touch

Come say hello and seek advice in the global Reinventing Work Slack. We're also and we blog at Medium.

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We read together, write together, and learn together. We blog, we exchange coaching, we meetup, we support each other, we experiment, and above all - we practise. We invite you to join our Slack community & main Meetup group, where you can join our regular events - everyone is welcome.

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[Website/platform] Platform to come together to end human suffering in the workplace and beyond

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A REBELLIOUS PROFESSOR & A BUSINESS INSURGENT

We are both passionate about developing organisations that are good for the people inside them, as well as good for the wider ecosystem. In our respective professional life we have tried to make a positive difference for several decades, and we feel it is time to bring together lessons learned - across academia and business, and across disciplines like philosophy, psychology, management science, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience. Our aim is to enable a global dialogue about how to craft good organisations and create a movement for positive change, to build back better.

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A REBELLIOUS PROFESSOR & A BUSINESS INSURGENT We are both passionate about developing organisations that are good for the people inside them, as well as good for the wider ecosystem.

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[Summit/German] Summit focused on change

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29. bis 30. Juni 2022
Hasenöhrl-Hof - Bayrischzell

Entwicklung von Produkten und Services mit hohem Wert für die KundInnen

Ausrichtung der Aktivitäten in der Organisation am Wertstrom

Organisation der Arbeit entlang der Bedürfnisse der Mitarbeiterinnen

Unser Vorgehen bei der agilen Transition der KfW |

Julia Kessler

​

Emergent Change in der Praxis |

Eike Wagner & Philipp Forster

​

Wie wir bei METRO.digital konsequent aus Experimenten lernen |

Christina Lange

​

Die Rolle der Agile Enabler bei Union Investment |

Matthias Steffen

​

Wie wir mit Design Thinking den Change Prozess hin zu New Work gestalten |

Nicole Anzinger

​

|

Damaris Landmesser

„In einem Mix aus thematischen Impulsen und gemeinsamer Fallbearbeitung entsteht ein kräftiger Raum. Wer Interesse daran hat, mit Themen in Berührung zu kommen, die noch nicht im Change-Mainstream angekommen sind, und mit hellen Köpfen um tiefe Erkenntnisse zu Change zu ringen, ist beim Change Camp genau richtig."

„Der Dank geht an emergize: für den Reichtum an Impulsen, Erfahrung und Expertise, die ihr zusammengebracht habt und für den entspannten humorvollen Raum, den ihr für die Durchführung geschaffen habt! Ich gehe in vielerlei Hinsicht gestärkt in den Abend, ein schönes Gefühl ist das, Danke."

„Viel Inspiration, tiefe Einblicke in verschiedene Facetten und Change, Kennenlernen von vielen Experten, ansprechende Diskussionen und spannende Fallarbeit. Danke."

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[Tools/articles] Short blog posts with tools and explainers on things to experiment with in human-centered organisations

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Teams must have opportunities to be candid about the progress towards their goals, to work through how to achieve their desired outcomes, and hopefully, to learn from their colleagues' experiences

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[Tools/platform]

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Explore progressive orgs and practices - Explore - Prototyping Work

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Get inspired with the most progressive organizations, measurements and practices. Search and learn how to change step by step.

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[Tools]

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A SUPERLIST OF TOOLS & APPS TO HELP YOU WORK BETTER REMOTELY

Over the years, Collaboration Superpowers has compiled a list of useful tools and apps for remote teams. We hope these tools help you work better remotely.

If you want a tool to be added to the list, or if you have a correction to make, please submit your request through the SUBMIT A TOOL button below. Note: we ignore requests not submitted through this form.

REMOTE OFFICE HOURS

Book a meeting if you want to "pick my brain," get product feedback, ask for advice, or get help finding a remote job.

€95 per 1-hour, online session.

WANT TO ADD OR CORRECT A TOOL ON OUR LIST?

Contribute to our comprehensive database of remote tools.

MEETINGS

Communication

Airtasker. "A trusted community platform that connects people who need to outsource tasks and find local services, with people who are looking to earn money and ready to work." (https://www.airtasker.com/jobs/admin/virtual-assistant/)

Asynchr. "First video job board for hiring with a human face". (https://asynchr.com/)

Atlas and Boots. "Matches skilled digital nomads and expats to companies genuinely committed to remote working." (https://www.atlasandboots.com/remote-jobs)

Beam HR. "Everything you need to find and hire remote engineering talents for your tech team." (https://beam.hr)

Codementor. "Hire World-class Freelance Developers for Your Team." (https://hire.codementor.io)

Contact Out. "Find anyone's personal email & phone number. Hire talent 10x faster with the most powerful sourcing platform available." (https://contactout.com/)

Credo. "Find and hire the best SEO, PPC, or digital marketing providers." (https://www.getcredo.com/)

CVViZ. "An Artificial Intelligence powered, cloud-based recruiting software that helps you identify RIGHT talent internally or externally." (https://cvviz.com/)

DailyRemote. "We help people find great remote jobs." (https://dailyremote.com/remote-work-blog/)

Deskhiker. "Deskhiker is the newest website to search for remote jobs around the world." (https://www.deskhiker.com/en)

Developers For Hire. "Based on talent resources, algorithms and the assessment questionnaires, this tool sorts through available hiring resources to help you hire the right developers in under 60 seconds." (https://www.developersforhire.com/)

DevITjobs. "IT job board with salary brackets and Full Remote filter." (https://devitjobs.us/)

Dynamite Jobs. "Find 100% remote + paid jobs from great companies." (https://dynamitejobs.co)

Digital Nomad Jobs. "Remote Job Opportunities. Work anywhere and travel the world." (https://www.facebook.com/groups/remotejobsfordigitalnomads/)

Diversify Tech. "Find a job in Tech." (https://www.diversifytech.co/job-board/)

EU Remote Jobs. "We manually search for the best remote jobs open to candidates within EMEA." (https://euremotejobs.com/)

Fivrr. "Freelance services. On-demand." (https://www.fiverr.com)

FlexJobs. "The best remote and flexible jobs, and a better way to find them." (https://www.flexjobs.com)

Freedom is everything. The 40 Fastest Growing Remote Startups That Are Hiring. (https://www.freedomiseverything.com/blog/2020/03/09/fastest-growing-remote/)

Freelancer. "Hire expert freelancers for any job, online." (https://www.freelancer.com)

Freeeup. "Meet affordable virtual assistants, freelance specialists, and boutique agencies to help grow your business within 1 business day." (https://freeeup.com/)

FullyRemoteJobs.io. "Find remote work that suit you best. Connect with employers, share your online resume, and apply for remote jobs today." (https://fullyremotejobs.io/)

GreenThumbs. "GreenThumbs is a suite of employee recruitment, assessment, and survey solutions and services that aid you to make better people-management decisions and build a stronger and high-performing workforce." (https://www.greenthumbs.in/)

goLance. "The Absolute Safest, Most Flexible and Cost-Effective Place To Recruit, Hire, Manage and Pay Talent Globally." (https://golance.com)

Guru. "Makes it easy for quality employers and freelancers to connect, collaborate, and get work done flexibly and securely." (https://www.guru.com)

HiRemoter. "The first remote job platform for non-coders." (https://www.hiremoter.com)

Hire Virtual Employee. "Hire Top Virtual Employee and save up to 50% on salary. One easy step subscription based process to Hire Top Quality Expert working for your business part or full time." ( https://www.hireemployees.co/)

Hubstaff Talent. "Hubstaff Talent is a 100% free resource for companies looking to find remote talent across the globe. No fees, no markups, no middlemen." (https://talent.hubstaff.com)

IGotMyWork. "A free freelance marketplace." (https://www.igotmywork.com)

Indeed. "Search millions of jobs online to find the next step in your career." (https://www.indeed.com)

Jobspresso. "Expertly curated remote jobs in tech, marketing, customer support and more." (https://jobspresso.co)

Jooble. "The best search engine in the job world. We will help you to find your dream job among thousands of vacancies all over the Internet." (https://jooble.org/)

JustRemote. "An easily filterable remote job website." (https://justremote.co)

Landing Jobs. "Don't just look for a tech job. Find the one that fits you." (https://landing.jobs)

Let's Work Remotely. "The best digital nomad stories and remote opportunities for you." (https://www.letsworkremotely.com)

LGBTQ Remotely. "Remote job board helping to democratize remote job opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community including those who may not identify with the rainbow family but simply want to work for a company who values diversity, inclusion, and belonging in their work environment. (https://lgbtqremotely.com/)

Moonlighting. "The fastest way to find & hire the on-demand pros you need right now." (https://www.moonlighting.com)

Outsourcely. "Hire talented remote workers and find great remote jobs." (https://www.outsourcely.com)

Pangian. "Top talent working remotely. Worldwide. Find Your Dream Remote Job Here." (https://pangian.com)

PeoplePerHour. "The best people, in their finest hour." (https://www.peopleperhour.com)

Periodix. "Artificial Intelligence finds you freelance jobs with the greatest chances to be hired." (https://periodix.net/)

Rat Race Rebellion. "Virtual jobs, side gigs & savings." (https://www.diversifytech.co/job-board)

remote. "Connecting outstanding people with the world's most innovative companies" (https://remote.com/)

remote4me. "An aggregator for remote jobs in tech and non tech." (http://remote4me.com)

Remote.co. "Hand-recruited list in the most recruited job categories." (https://remote.co/remote-jobs)

remote circle. "We only show you jobs that are hiring in your timezone." (https://remotecircle.com/)

RemoteInEurope. "A job board for remote opportunities available in Europe." (https://remoteineurope.com/)

RemoteKit. "RemoteKit is a curated collection of tools and guides to help you find (and love) your next work from home job." (http://remotekit.net/)

Remotemax. "Remote Jobs in Development, Design, Marketing and more." (https://remotemax.co/)

Remote OK. "Let's you find a job you can do anywhere." (https://remoteok.io)

Remotely. "Work where you work best." (https://remotely.so)

Remote Talent. "We are the first recruitment company who specializes in the recruitment of the best full-time remote workers around the world, who prefer to work from home ... or anywhere in the world." (http://remotetalent.co)

Remote Tech Jobs. "Remote Tech Jobs scans 10+ job boards for tech jobs. The jobs are easy to filter so that job seekers can find the ones they are actually interested in." (https://www.remotetechjobs.com/)

Remotific. "Remote Jobs for Translators, Writers, and English Teachers." (https://remotific.com)

Remotise. "Remotise connects top talent with top remote companies around the world." (https://www.remotise.com)

Remotive.io. List of 900+ startups hiring remotely in 2019." (google doc)

RemoteUK. "Find remote working jobs and connect with companies hiring remote teams in the UK." (https://remoteuk.co.uk/)

Remote Woman. "Find the best female-friendly, full-time, remote jobs." (https://remotewoman.com/)

Remote Work Hub. "Everything you need to build a remote career." (https://remoteworkhub.com/)

Remote Worktree. "Our curated remote work resources aim to keep it simple, presenting what you need to start learning now and tailored for your level as an individual or manager." (https://remoteworktree.com/)

Revelo. The largest online platform for US companies to hire remote software developers. Our platform enables US companies to source, hire and manage highly qualified, English-speaking, full time remote tech talent in US time zones. (https://www.revelo.com/)

Sitepoint. "A job board that promotes remote web developer opportunities. We post roughly 20 new jobs daily."(sitepoint.com/jobs)

Skip the Drive. "Find remote and telecommuting jobs." (https://www.skipthedrive.com)

Smart. "Find quality Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters, Importers, Buyers, Wholesalers, Products and Trade Leads from our award-winning International Trade Site." (https://www.outsourcingall.com/)

Smart Remote Jobs. "An online job board for remote job offers and work-from-home opportunities." (https://www.smartremotejobs.com/)

Telecommute Now. "An informational site about telecommuting, and working at home as an employee, contractor or as a business owner." (https://telecommutenow.com/)

Test Candidates. "Pre-employment tests for startups and SME's. It's an easy and cost-effective way for small companies to introduce talent assessments into their recruitment process." (https://www.testcandidates.com)

Textbroker. "With Textbroker you get access to thousands of professional US based copywriters, bloggers & editors!" (https://www.textbroker.com/home)

Top Startups. "

Truelancer. "Online Platform for Employers to Hire Professionals to get their work done and Freelancers and Professionals can Search Jobs and Earn money by working with real clients across the world." (https://www.truelancer.com)

Truly Remote. "Work remotely from anywhere. Find truly global remote jobs, not limited to just one city or country." (https://trulyremote.co/)

Upwork. "Get it done with a freelancer." (https://www.upwork.com)

VirtualVocations. "All telecommute jobs. All in one place." (https://www.virtualvocations.com)

We Work Remotely. "The best place to find and list jobs that aren't restricted by commutes or a particular geographic area." (https://weworkremotely.com)

Work-at-Home Success. "Providing free telecommuting job leads, home business tips and information, scam alerts, and more." (https://www.workathomesuccess.com)

Work From Home Jobs. "The best work from home and remote jobs postings from different online job boards into a single place." (https://workfromhomejobs.me/)

Workew. "The Best Jobs to Work Remotely. Developer, Marketing, Design, Writing, Customer Support & More."
(https://workew.com/)

Workhoppers. "Connecting businesses with the right freelance, contract, and part-time professionals. No commissions." (https://www.workhoppers.com)

Working Nomads. "Remote jobs for digital working nomads." (https://www.workingnomads.co/jobs)

Work Remote. "There is a lot of wrong information out there about hiring and managing remote teams at SCALE - we want to fix that. We developed this site to write and curate content to help founders & CEOs build great, scalable remote organizations." (https://workremote.us/)

Xobin. Pre-hire assessment platform with validated role-based assessment and psychometric assessment for remote hiring. (https://xobin.com/)

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Tools for remote teams - Collaboration Superpowers

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A SUPERLIST OF TOOLS & APPS TO HELP YOU WORK BETTER REMOTELY Over the years, Collaboration Superpowers has compiled a list of useful tools and apps for remote teams. We hope these tools help you work better remotely.

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[video series]

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4.2.8 Launching self-managing teams (Self-management: getting started)

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[Tool/practice]

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Introducing The Church of Fail.

I created The Church of Fail ten years ago at a team off site, charged with the brief of improving our clients and employees lives.

The result was a powerful combination of improvisation, stagecraft and sound business logic coming together into a fun, accessible but highly relevant and impactful workshop format that helps teams learn from their mistakes.

Though this practise, in time, the conversations around the concept of 'failure' are normalised and growth takes its place.

Since creating this totem ten years ago, it's gone from strength to strength, taking place right across the globe - from boardrooms to conferences to classrooms - and even picked up in the news and press, including The Guardian, Inc Magazine, People Management and Virgin.com

it's a simple format that any team can follow - you just need to answer three questions and be prepared to celebrate - with commitment.

Watch the video and try it out with your team. If you need a hand, get in touch.

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The Church of Fail - The Speaking Coach - Matt Matheson

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I created The Church of Fail ten years ago at a team off site, charged with the brief of improving our clients and employees lives. The result was a powerful combination of improvisation, stagecraft and sound business logic coming together into a fun, accessible but highly relevant and impactful workshop format that helps teams learn from their mistakes.