Presentation given at Agile in Business in Warsaw, Poland in Sept 2014. About my experience with running my company Springest with Holacracy as it's organisational "operating system". Lots of practical tips and challenges, plus hopefully some demystifying the hype of Holacracy :)

1. Holacracy… another
management hype?
(or: how we embraced control without control)
Ruben Timmerman for Agile in Business, Warsaw, 23 September 2014

2. Intro: so why am I standing here?
What does Holacracy mean to us?
Why make the painful move?
Phases in our adoption…
Challenges to overcome
Was it worth it? Will it be to you?
You challenging me!

5. An Amazon of Learning
Help people grow
by discovering & choosing
the right learning opportunity.

6. Ruben is about:
Learn, Grow
Optimize, Efficient
Creating Chaos
…or I’ll get bored!

7. Springest mission 1:
Help people learn
Springest mission 2:
Build a learning
company

9. Why Holacracy?
GTD
Scrum / Kanban
X Transparency
Hungry people

10. Tools, tools, tools

11. Data driven, KPI focussed, OKR setting

12. Daily (Scrum) standups

13. What we hoped to achieve
A promise, a reward, a wish and ambition…

14. The promise of
control
without
controlling

15. The reward of
learning together

16. The ambition
to create a
better type of
organisation

17. The wish to be a
more
rewarding place
to work at

18. Phases in our adoption
Already
doing it!
Not really…
not for
everyone…
We get it
now!
We expect!
Mastering…
60-80%?

19. Practical Impact of Holacracy
Less bullshitting: shorter meetings
Clarity in roles: more accountability
Unified system: upgraded GTD
Project visibility: less synchronization
Less micromanagement anxiety

20. Did I mention: NO EMAIL?

22. 1. Holacracy
doesn’t tell you
how to run your
organization
!
Fix: use process
to create clarity
evolve

23. 2. Holacracy tells
you exactly how
to run your
organization
!
Fix: play the game!

24. 3. Gossip & politics will be there
Fix: Address roles publicly & directly

25. 4. Just play and lose, or Read the rules
Fix: More focus on learning

26. 5. People will
still
“smell”
managers
!
Fix: feedback!

27. 6. When the going
gets tough, you
have to suck it up
!
Fix: clarify strategy

28. 7. Creationism vs. Evolution
Fix: Beware of creationist managers

29. 8. Staying positive in hard times
Fix: “Holacracy is not an experiment”

30. Is it worth it?
Confronting!
Great for growth
Ultimate in agile
Tough for slowing

31. Questions?
Bring it on!
http://springe.st/begin-holacracy
ruben@springest.com
@rubzie