The Cellar - The opposite of CEO culture noticed

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The opposite of CEO culture noticed

http://qz.com/161210/zappos-is-going...-no-hierarchy/

Quote:

Zappos’ traditional organizational structure is being replaced with Holacracy, a radical “self-governing” operating system where there are no job titles and no managers. The term Holacracy is derived from the Greek word holon, which means a whole that’s part of a greater whole. Instead of a top-down hierarchy, there’s a flatter “holarchy” that distributes power more evenly. The company will be made up of different circles—there will be around 400 circles at Zappos once the rollout is complete in December 2014—and employees can have any number of roles within those circles. This way, there’s no hiding under titles; radical transparency is the goal.

Company politics is played for the benefit of the players, not the work, not the company, and nobody really benefits. The game is defined by the "org chart" which presents everything in business as a hierarchy of power over others. The best "players" reach their level of incompetence and then fight to keep the jobs they're shitty at. Bossing is rewarded. Empire building is rewarded. Leadership is not.

I hope this changes the game.

Notice noticed. We've only had good experiences with Zappos, I hope they're on to something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff (Post 887788)

I hope they're on to something.

History lists many companies that changed their operating culture. Only a minority work out. But the few can become some of the most productive organizations. Bell Labs was but one example.

Chiat/Day, famous for the Apple Superbowl commercials, changed how they do business. They even created virtual offices for employees who would infrequently visit the office. That experiment was disastrous for what made Chiat/Day so successful. No longer did the most productive meetings (people accidentally encounter each other in the hall) occur.

Such structures can result in innovation at the innovative layer - major tactical advantages. But may create corporate harm due to an undefined strategic objective and a missing 'attitude and knowledge'.