Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World

by Brian J. Robertson Narrated by Brian J. Robertson

Overview

Holacracy is a revolutionary management system that redefines management and turns everyone into a leader.

Holacracy distributes authority and decision-making throughout an organization, and defines people not by hierarchy and titles, but by roles. Holacracy creates organizations that are fast, agile, and that succeed by pursuing their purpose, not following a dated and artificial plan.

This isn't anarchy - it's quite the opposite. When you start to follow Holacracy, you learn to create new structures and ways of making decisions that empower the people who know the most about the work you do: your frontline colleagues.

Some of the many champions of Holacracy include Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com (author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Delivering Happiness), Evan Williams (co-founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium), and David Allen.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

03/23/2015
As this illuminating business manual relates, HolacracyOne founder Robertson started his company in order to help other leaders prepare their companies for growth and scale. According to him, businesspeople need to be able to react promptly and improve quickly, and the current model—top-down; “predict-and-control”—is not fast or agile enough. The “Holacracy” technique was created to address this need. It comprises a “constitution” for the redistribution of power within the company, a revamp of company structure and hierarchy, an overhauled decision-making process, and a revised model for meetings and communication. The book accordingly leads readers through the process of redistributing authority and improving decision-making, which involves shifting from personal leadership to constitutionally-derived power. Backed up by contributions from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and other business luminaries, this is a practical, step-by-step guide to putting in place a new, unfamiliar structure, one where the executive retains autonomy and individual authority while allowing others to lead highly structured meetings and systematic decision-making. This approach requires an all-in; it’s most likely to find its readership with those who are ready to make a huge leap. B&w illus. Agent: Lisa Queen, Queen Literary Agency. (June)

From the Publisher

Holacracy is the opposite of the cliché way to run a startup. People romanticize startup cultures and their lack of structure, but it actually creates tons of anxiety and inefficiency, whether we have to build consensus around every decision, or deal with land grabs for power. In contrast, Holacracy creates clarity: who is in charge of what, and who makes each kind of decision—and there is a system for changing that, so it's very flexible at the same time.” —Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium

“This book reminds me of a book that I must have read 100 times during my quest to become a better poker player. The first reading will most likely result in a complete paradigm shift, and you'll gain new insight every single time you reread it, especially when interspersed with actual practice playing the game on a regular basis. Just like I had a 'poker bible' I constantly referenced and reread, I highly recommend this book as your 'Holacracy Bible' if you're looking to explore a new way of working.” —Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller DELIVERING HAPPINESS

Library Journal

05/15/2015
Robertson's first book gives an overview of Holacracy, a management system that purports to deal with a rapidly changing environment. His premise is that the role of management is to organize the work, not the people, through the development of process. The author echoes the opinion of Eric D. Beinhocker (The Origin of Wealth) that evolution is an algorithm, and that trial and error is at the hub of new processes. Robertson, like others including Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence), is an advocate of an inverted pyramid, or at least a flattened organization. Organizational behaviorists may find critical flaws (e.g., inverted pyramids defy gravity, ISO standards may be difficult to achieve, and entropy is as much a fact of life as evolution). From a philosophical perspective, Holacracy is a closed system; the difficulty is that such systems often experience challenges when dealing with outside factors. VERDICT While Robertson freely shares his blueprint for creating a holacratic organization, including references to his organization's website, he believes that the coaching his organization provides makes the transition easier. Buy the book only after perusing Holacracy.org.—Steven Silkunas, Fernandina Beach, FL

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile

Robertson’s fundamentally different way to approach running any organization will be challenging for many listeners. But it provides much value in understanding the power of leveraging a more democratic and systematic approach to making effective decisions. Robertson proves to be an excellent narrator. His passion for the “holocracy” approach is evident in every sentence, and, equally important, his steady cadence and candid tone make his delivery sound natural. Furthermore, his deep and slightly raspy voice, which certainly helps in keeping the listener’s attention, is impressive enough that he may have missed his calling as a narrator. L.E. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2015-03-29
An introduction to a new kind of corporate management system modeled on the self-organizing structures of organic matter. Management consultant Robertson, founder of HolacracyOne, offers a primer on the system he pioneered, accompanied by procedures required for its adoption and the outline of a training program. The author's program incorporates elements of traditional organization theory as well as inputs from David Allen, who created the "Getting Things Done" time management system. As opposed to a hierarchy, a "holarchy" is analogous to complex, multilayered systems like those which the author writes are "all around us in the way nature organizes itself." He points to the relationship between cells and their containing organs, which "simultaneously honor autonomy and enable self-organization at every level within." The author argues that his system will enhance productivity and reduce time spent in unwieldy meetings, and he provides ways to help overcome resistance to the new procedures he recommends and the inevitable fears roused by the adoption of these radical innovations. Robertson expects that such structures will enable individuals to define roles for themselves within the overall framework of corporate governance. With the use of his system, organizations can reduce the impacts of personal, emotion-driven conflicts and political infighting. He outlines how each autonomous layer should deliberate and define choices for action, within and between each element of his proposed assembly. Robertson also describes the mechanics of agenda construction and the roles of participants. The primacy allotted to choice and deliberation seems to undermine the author's intent to imitate the form of complex natural structures, which, thus far, have not provided evidence of either. Nor has there been found a formal structure that can substitute for transformative individuals like Bill Gates, Andy Grove, or Steve Jobs. Despite some intriguing nuggets scattered throughout, this book is a booster piece seemingly based on science but proposing a remedy for not adequately specified conditions.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171837020
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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