(highlight:: This means that, if my business operated under Holacracy, I wouldn't simply ask my pals Lisette or Andy to configure a new team collaboration tool. Instead, I would create a new Role, define its Purpose, its Domain, a list of Accountabilities, organize a Governance Meeting to get the new role instantiated, get someone to fill the new role, and then hand over authority for the new tool to the new role, rather than the person. After all, Holacracy doesn't authorize human beings; it authorizes roles. Or, in other words:
Holacracy doesn't empower people, it empowers processes.
It all makes perfect sense, if your metaphor is that of an operating system delegating a job to a subroutine. Instead of giving the work directly to an object, you define an interface, write a class, implement the interface, instantiate an object, and activate the object through the interface. That's basically how Holacracy works. Only a software engineer can come up with that.
I felt like being part of a code, operating within an algorithm that is optimized for machines, but not for humans. Instead of feeling more whole, self-organized and more powerful, I felt trapped. The circles I was being part of did not feel empowering at all but taking away my natural authenticity as well as my feeling of aliveness. It was fully unnatural and we were disciplined by rigorous protocols and procedures. -- Julia Culen, "Holacracy: Not Safe Enough to Try")
- No location available
-

Holacracy requires a deep commitment to record-keeping and governance. Every job to be done requires a role, and every role requires a set of responsibilities. While this provides helpful transparency, it takes time and discussion. More importantly, we found that the act of codifying responsibilities in explicit detail hindered a proactive attitude and sense of communal ownership. - Andy Doyle, "Management and Organization at Medium"
- No location available
-

The average employee is already overworked and undertrained; asking them to learn the management equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons on top of their workload is foolish, if not inhumane. - Bud Caddell, "The Fatal Gap Between Organizational Practice and Organizational Theory"
- No location available
-

Holacracy insists that we delegate work to roles, not to people. But every expert I know seems to agree that social systems can only work when there is trust. And organizations can only switch from hierarchies to networks, and from management to leadership, when power and influence are obtained through reputation rather than titles.
- No location available
-

Delegating the governance process itself, in other words, acknowledging people's freedom to decide how they are governed at the local level, is often referred to as the Subsidiarity Principle. It is widely seen as a crucial pillar of good governance. A governance structure and process that is adequate to deal with local issues should not even exist at a higher level. Holacracy ignores this important principle. It mandates the entire governance process, in a command-and-control manner.
- No location available
-

(highlight:: This means that, if my business operated under Holacracy, I wouldn't simply ask my pals Lisette or Andy to configure a new team collaboration tool. Instead, I would create a new Role, define its Purpose, its Domain, a list of Accountabilities, organize a Governance Meeting to get the new role instantiated, get someone to fill the new role, and then hand over authority for the new tool to the new role, rather than the person. After all, Holacracy doesn't authorize human beings; it authorizes roles. Or, in other words:
Holacracy doesn't empower people, it empowers processes.
It all makes perfect sense, if your metaphor is that of an operating system delegating a job to a subroutine. Instead of giving the work directly to an object, you define an interface, write a class, implement the interface, instantiate an object, and activate the object through the interface. That's basically how Holacracy works. Only a software engineer can come up with that.
I felt like being part of a code, operating within an algorithm that is optimized for machines, but not for humans. Instead of feeling more whole, self-organized and more powerful, I felt trapped. The circles I was being part of did not feel empowering at all but taking away my natural authenticity as well as my feeling of aliveness. It was fully unnatural and we were disciplined by rigorous protocols and procedures. -- Julia Culen, "Holacracy: Not Safe Enough to Try")
- No location available
-

Holacracy requires a deep commitment to record-keeping and governance. Every job to be done requires a role, and every role requires a set of responsibilities. While this provides helpful transparency, it takes time and discussion. More importantly, we found that the act of codifying responsibilities in explicit detail hindered a proactive attitude and sense of communal ownership. - Andy Doyle, "Management and Organization at Medium"
- No location available
-

The average employee is already overworked and undertrained; asking them to learn the management equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons on top of their workload is foolish, if not inhumane. - Bud Caddell, "The Fatal Gap Between Organizational Practice and Organizational Theory"
- No location available
-

Holacracy insists that we delegate work to roles, not to people. But every expert I know seems to agree that social systems can only work when there is trust. And organizations can only switch from hierarchies to networks, and from management to leadership, when power and influence are obtained through reputation rather than titles.
- No location available
-

Delegating the governance process itself, in other words, acknowledging people's freedom to decide how they are governed at the local level, is often referred to as the Subsidiarity Principle. It is widely seen as a crucial pillar of good governance. A governance structure and process that is adequate to deal with local issues should not even exist at a higher level. Holacracy ignores this important principle. It mandates the entire governance process, in a command-and-control manner.
- No location available
-