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The Key Agile Principles Behind Holacracy
Zappos triggered an uproar when it announced it was ditching traditional management hierarchy in exchange for self-organizing teams. In this week’s Labcast, Scrum co-creator Jeff Sutherland sounds off on holacracy and provides a basic anatomy lesson on the structure of truly agile organizations.
Holacracy — the buzzword has been swarming the web ever since Zappos announced it would be swapping management titles for a “self-governing” system. There seems to be two main reactions surrounding the shift — those who believe holacracy is the way of the future, and those who dismiss it as a passing fad.
But when you get down to the key concepts of holacracy — the emphasis on small self-organizing teams operating autonomously, for example — perhaps the system isn’t exactly the scary new revolution it’s being made out to be. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like agile development.
In this week’s Labcast, Dr. Jeff Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum, weighs in on holacracy and the future of management — drawing parallels between agile and holacracy, and explaining why your own body may be the perfect model for a truly agile, productive, and innovative organization.
This Week’s Guest
“There is this hierarchy, but it’s all one kind of interacting whole just like your body is. Your heart knows how to pump. You don’t tell your heart what to do or you’re going to get into trouble…You may give it some direction, but then it kind of does it by itself. That’s the holocracy in action. I think that’s what Zappos is trying to achieve.”
— Jeff Sutherland, Scrum Inc
Key Takeaways
* Holacracy isn’t a new concept. In fact, it has a lot in common with Scrum. [2:25]
* In Holacracy and Scrum, there is a hierarchy, but it’s a different kind. Think of it as the human body. [2:50] and [11:45]
* Managers need to take more of a hands-off approach. The best are able to be a coach while also a member of the team. [6:30]
* The architecture of Scrum is a lot like intelligent code. [12:55]
* What’s the future of management? [16:10]
Listen Here
Subscribe to Labcast
Transcript
Announcer: This is Labcast, insights and ideas for the expansion-stage senior manager, hosted by OpenView Labs.
Jonathan: Hello everyone, and welcome to Labcast. This is your host, Jonathan Crowe. With us today we have Dr. Jeff Sutherland, a co-creator of the agile development framework Scrum. Jeff, thanks for coming back with us today.
Jeff: Yeah, great to be here again.
Jonathan: For many of our listeners, you’re familiar with Jeff and his work. But, for those who aren’t, Jeff is a pioneer in the world of software development. He served as a VP of engineering as well as a CTO or CEO of 11 software companies. He’s currently the chair of the Scrum Foundation and senior adviser and Agile coach for us here at OpenView. You can learn much more about Jeff and the transformative benefits of Scrum at scruminc.com.
Jeff, I’m really excited to have you here today. There is a topic that’s been big in the news for the past couple of weeks. In fact, it’s really swarming around a new buzzword. That buzzword is holocracy.
So, as listeners I’m sure know, Zappos a few weeks ago made a big splash when it announced it’d be removing its management hierarchy and replacing it with this radical self-governing system. The response to this has been huge.
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Zappos triggered an uproar when it announced it was ditching traditional management hierarchy in exchange for self-organizing teams. In this week’s Labcast, Scrum co-creator Jeff Sutherland sounds off on holacracy and provides a basic anatomy lesson on the structure of truly agile organizations.
Holacracy — the buzzword has been swarming the web ever since Zappos announced it would be swapping management titles for a “self-governing” system. There seems to be two main reactions surrounding the shift — those who believe holacracy is the way of the future, and those who dismiss it as a passing fad.
But when you get down to the key concepts of holacracy — the emphasis on small self-organizing teams operating autonomously, for example — perhaps the system isn’t exactly the scary new revolution it’s being made out to be. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like agile development.
In this week’s Labcast, Dr. Jeff Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum, weighs in on holacracy and the future of management — drawing parallels between agile and holacracy, and explaining why your own body may be the perfect model for a truly agile, productive, and innovative organization.
This Week’s Guest
“There is this hierarchy, but it’s all one kind of interacting whole just like your body is. Your heart knows how to pump. You don’t tell your heart what to do or you’re going to get into trouble…You may give it some direction, but then it kind of does it by itself. That’s the holocracy in action. I think that’s what Zappos is trying to achieve.”
— Jeff Sutherland, Scrum Inc
Key Takeaways
* Holacracy isn’t a new concept. In fact, it has a lot in common with Scrum. [2:25]
* In Holacracy and Scrum, there is a hierarchy, but it’s a different kind. Think of it as the human body. [2:50] and [11:45]
* Managers need to take more of a hands-off approach. The best are able to be a coach while also a member of the team. [6:30]
* The architecture of Scrum is a lot like intelligent code. [12:55]
* What’s the future of management? [16:10]
Listen Here
Subscribe to Labcast
Transcript
Announcer: This is Labcast, insights and ideas for the expansion-stage senior manager, hosted by OpenView Labs.
Jonathan: Hello everyone, and welcome to Labcast. This is your host, Jonathan Crowe. With us today we have Dr. Jeff Sutherland, a co-creator of the agile development framework Scrum. Jeff, thanks for coming back with us today.
Jeff: Yeah, great to be here again.
Jonathan: For many of our listeners, you’re familiar with Jeff and his work. But, for those who aren’t, Jeff is a pioneer in the world of software development. He served as a VP of engineering as well as a CTO or CEO of 11 software companies. He’s currently the chair of the Scrum Foundation and senior adviser and Agile coach for us here at OpenView. You can learn much more about Jeff and the transformative benefits of Scrum at scruminc.com.
Jeff, I’m really excited to have you here today. There is a topic that’s been big in the news for the past couple of weeks. In fact, it’s really swarming around a new buzzword. That buzzword is holocracy.
So, as listeners I’m sure know, Zappos a few weeks ago made a big splash when it announced it’d be removing its management hierarchy and replacing it with this radical self-governing system. The response to this has been huge.