I could not do my job without my manager. the way his role is structured is to support mine and make sure I have what I need to succeed in my role, because my results reflect directly on him. He jokes a lot that he hardly has to "manage" me, he spends his time removing obstacles from my path and keeping unimportant tasks off my plate so I can focus on delivering impactful work. Thank you, Mark!
In flat organizations it is not "majority rule". Leadership and C-suite still exists, the difference is that they stick to doing what they do best: develop business plans and visions for the organizations future. Flat structures means that the teams are autonomous to find the solutions that suits the problems they are facing, and to map out the course to the destination set by the vision of the leadership. Flat organizations usually also have middle management, but they are tasked with making sure everyone has what they need to do their job, and then assume they are responsible adults and experts in their field of work. The decision on what to work on is not based on the opinions of a manager, but as a result of the team working out what they need to do in order to deliver on the business plans and values of the organization. What is done today is just what is next on the list of things to do according to the team. These perspectives come from my experiences in both top-down and flat organizations, in and outside the US. Big and small. (largest flat organization having over 4k employees). I recommend reading up on "distance to power"; a concept of cultural indicators for working with and around management. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell touches on this.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. The majority rule comment is in reference to how things worked at Valve...which is the flatest of the flat organizational design. It sounds like what you're describing is just a flatter than normal traditional hierarchy where teams are empowered more because of the design...but managers still exist. I'm curious, how many levels were their in the organizational chart of the 4,000 person flat organization?
The list we reference in the video is here: www.holacracy.org/r/which-organizations-use-holacracy/ It's not exhaustive, as no doubt there are organizations that use a different "operating system" for their manager-less design.
I could not do my job without my manager. the way his role is structured is to support mine and make sure I have what I need to succeed in my role, because my results reflect directly on him. He jokes a lot that he hardly has to "manage" me, he spends his time removing obstacles from my path and keeping unimportant tasks off my plate so I can focus on delivering impactful work. Thank you, Mark!
Love it!
In flat organizations it is not "majority rule". Leadership and C-suite still exists, the difference is that they stick to doing what they do best: develop business plans and visions for the organizations future.
Flat structures means that the teams are autonomous to find the solutions that suits the problems they are facing, and to map out the course to the destination set by the vision of the leadership.
Flat organizations usually also have middle management, but they are tasked with making sure everyone has what they need to do their job, and then assume they are responsible adults and experts in their field of work. The decision on what to work on is not based on the opinions of a manager, but as a result of the team working out what they need to do in order to deliver on the business plans and values of the organization. What is done today is just what is next on the list of things to do according to the team.
These perspectives come from my experiences in both top-down and flat organizations, in and outside the US. Big and small. (largest flat organization having over 4k employees).
I recommend reading up on "distance to power"; a concept of cultural indicators for working with and around management. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell touches on this.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. The majority rule comment is in reference to how things worked at Valve...which is the flatest of the flat organizational design. It sounds like what you're describing is just a flatter than normal traditional hierarchy where teams are empowered more because of the design...but managers still exist. I'm curious, how many levels were their in the organizational chart of the 4,000 person flat organization?
Awesome. Thanks, David. David's Linkedin Course is wow.
Thanks so much!
Great video, thank you. Quick question; David mentioned a website that tracks organizations and or holacracy. Would you please share that resource?
I would also love to see the article that mentions that flat organizational structures are best in smaller organizations if you are willing to share.
The list we reference in the video is here: www.holacracy.org/r/which-organizations-use-holacracy/
It's not exhaustive, as no doubt there are organizations that use a different "operating system" for their manager-less design.
AI is a new manager
And a not very empathetic one.
It would be ANARCHY without SOFT SKILLS. Trust me. I've seen IT
Agreed. Soft skills just keep becoming more and more important.