Working with Holacracy™
Realize!
HolacracyOne
Guiding Principles
Facilitated Meetings
Implementation
Dynamic steering enables an
organization to adapt quickly
and flexibly to change in and
around the organization.
The facilitator leads the
meeting and prevents long
and tiresome discussions, so
more work gets done in less
time.
Holacracy is implemented in
tailor-made modules, so an
organization can start
working with Holacracy in
just a single team.
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What is holacracy?
Holacracy™ is a practice for organizations that are looking to embed
flexibility and effectiveness in their core processes, such as meetings,
decision-making processes and the organizational structure. The way in
which holacracy manages this is by combining an innovative system of
meeting practices with a number of operating principles. The result? A
flexible and effective operating system with embedded adaptive capacity.
Who is holacracy for?
Organizations that waste a lot of energy and agility through ineffective
meetings, unclear decision-making processes and a rigid organizational
structure, will have much to gain from holacracy. Holacracy can make a
difference in dealing with the following questions:
 How do we make decisions?
 Who makes which decisions?
 How do we make changes in policy and structure?
The essence of holacracy: Dynamic Steering
Dynamic steering enables an organization to adapt quickly and flexibly to
change in and around the organization. It does so by shifting the focus away
from predicting and controlling, toward building internal adaptive capacity,
so the organization(-al structure) can deal with problems and opportunities
in a proactive manner. In this way, holacracy enables a much more agile way
of decision making; one that’s much more in alignment with human nature.
In fact, this way of steering the organization is quite similar to the way you
steer a bicycle (see the text box on the right).
How do you steer an organization like a bicycle?
Holacracy pioneer Brian
Robertson compares holacracy to
riding a bicycle. Organizations
are often ‘steered’ as if you’re
riding a bicycle with a blindfold
on. You choose a destination and
define a strategy for reaching it.
On a bicycle, this is something
like: ‘turn the handlebars 5
degrees to the right, after 10
meters turn 10 degrees to the
left, and after another 2 meters,
turn 20 degrees to the right.
Now, put your blindfold on and
peddle away!’ Holacracy is about
steering with your eyes wide
open. This may be strange and
scary at first, but actually it’s
much safer and more flexible.
You’ll be able to anticipate
unexpected events. You never
know what’s going to happen in
advance, so you’re better off
learning to deal with surprises
and steering where necessary.
Holacracy in practice: What’s in it for you?
When an organization or team has worked with Holacracy for some time:
1. It becomes more sensitive to internal and external change, so it takes less time to become aware of problems
and opportunities as they arise. And the earlier they show up on the radar, the sooner they can be dealt with.
2. It becomes more capable of rapidly integrating new insights and changes into all layers of the organization.
Holacracy facilitates the transition to a dynamically steering organization, by embedding into the structure of
the organization the capacity to effectively transform needs and tensions. Holacracy enables this by making it
crystal clear who takes decisions on what, so there is explicit agreement on how to deal with surprises as they
occur. The result is that information and awareness flow naturally to those places in the organization where
decisions are most effectively taken.
Holacracy creates an organization able to learn, because tensions that arise from a changing environment are
used as direct input into the continuing development of the organization(-al structure). This process takes place
at all layers, creating a resilient organization that embraces change, rather than resisting and fighting it. Such an
organization can be compared to an engine which actually becomes better and stronger as sand is put in.
Implementing holacracy: Where do you start?
The next few pages outline the most important ingredients of a successful holacracy implementation. The three
core elements resulting a dynamically steering organization are:
1. Learning to work with the guiding principles of holacracy
2. Initiating facilitated meetings
3. Innovation in the organizational structure
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Guiding Principles
Holacracy uses a number of operating
principles, which guide employees in how
to deal with tensions, decisions and
information. In this way, in unexpected
situations, everyone can rely on the
principles defined by the organization.
These principles are:
1. Present tensions are all that matter.
2. Any issue can be revisited at any
time.
3. The goal is a workable decision (not
necessarily the best decision).
The goal of these principles is to arrive at
the best solution in the long run, by always
looking for the workable way forward during
meetings, and by continuously integrating
new information as it becomes available over
time.
Practicing these principles directly affects
the agility and productivity of the
organization, because decisions can be made
much quicker when the goal is to make a
workable decision. In addition, these
principles result in qualitatively better
solutions in the long run, because ‘improving
a decision six times because of new
information, is better than fixing a static
‘best’ solution once’.
Facilitated Meetings
Implementing holacracy means that at
least two types of meetings are initiated:
governance meetings and operational
meetings.
This distinction enhances the quality of
two core processes of an organization:
the governance process (how do we
organize ourselves?) and the operational
process (what do we need to do?).
holacratically, a facilitator is appointed to
lead the meeting in a specific way. This
combination of clear process and the
guidance of a facilitator makes sure that
meetings are no longer hijacked by long and
frustrating discussions. Meetings take less
time and are more effective, so there’s more
time left for ‘the real work’ and the
organization is more successful in pursuing
its aim.
To make sure the team works
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personal concerns on the decision-making process.
It’s important for the facilitator to make sure the
team stays within the limits of the governance
meeting. He or she will not allow arguments such as
“Yes, but what if...”, as they are in conflict with the
principles. Such arguments do not refer to a present
tension, but instead are based on speculation and
assumptions about what might or might not happen in
the future.
Governance meeting
The governance meeting is specifically aimed at
governance issues, such as policy changes, delegating
accountabilities and setting limits to delegated
authority. The output of the meeting consists of
specific roles and accountabilities, which offer the
clarity needed to deal with the tensions that are
brought up.
While these principles provide clarity about which
arguments are valid and which are not, a good
facilitator will always listen closely and make instant
decisions about allowing a valid argument or rejecting
invalid ones. By providing strong leadership of the
process and guarding the integrity of the meeting by
crushing invalid or distracting elements, a facilitator
creates the space within which the team can focus on
more substantial matters and get the heart of them,
rapidly.
The process which is used to facilitate the governance
meeting is called integrative decision-making (IDM).
This process aims to integrate tangible objections in
the proposal in order to make it better, while
preventing sand being thrown into the engine by
means of irrelevant or disruptive discussions.
IDM distinguishes holacracy from both democratic and
consensus-based governance models. The risk of
democracy (‘majority rule’) is that the minority vote
is not integrated, while it may actually contain vital
information for the organization (see ‘Never outvote
the fuel gauge!’). The principle of consensus
(‘everyone must agree’) takes the minority voice into
account, but often leads to long meetings ending in
compromise. IDM
aims to move
Never outvote the fuel
quickly, but
gauge!
without ignoring
the potentially
In holacracy, each individual
vital information
is a valuable ‘sensor’ with
in the minority
access to a unique field of
voice. This is
information. In the cockpit
possible, because
of an airplace, the airspeed
for IDM it’s not
indicator, the altimeter and
important whether
the voltage meter may all
everyone likes the
say we’re doing fine, but
proposal, as long
that doesn’t mean that we
as nobody has any
shouldn’t care about what
argued objections.
the fuel gauge has to say! So
If some -one does
it’s not important whether
have a strong and
everyone shares an
argued objection,
objection. Even when it’s
that will always
just one person who sees an
get attention,
objection, he or she will be
even if no-one else
listened to, so the important
shares that
value of that perspective
objection.
can be integrated into the
proposal. In holacracy, you
IDM removes the
never outvote the fuel
influence of
gauge!
Operational meeting
Operational meetings have a very different energy,
compared to governance meetings. Here, the
emphasis is on getting quick and effective decisions
on operational issues and agenda items, and
delegating accountabilities. The discussion of
individual agenda items never takes longer than 3-5
minutes, while the process and the facilitator will
make sure the team always gets through the agenda
in the designated time.
In summary, the operational meeting is about
effectiveness, while governance meetings create the
space for transforming the tensions in the
organization.
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Innovation in the Organizational
Structure
To reinforce the positive impact of these principles and
meeting practices, holacracy introduces two important
innovations in the organizational structure. By creating
‘dynamic circles’ and ‘double links’, the flow of
information throughout the organization is strongly
improved, while changes can be integrated into the
organization more rapidly, without ever losing control
or direction.
“Everything in holacracy is
aimed at helping the
organization to steer
dynamically, by working
according to principles
which boost the
organization’s adaptive
capacity.”
Dynamic Circles
Double linking
At their core, circles are not different from the
departments in a standard organization chart. As
such, circles may overlap with functional business
units such as departments, profit centers or teams.
The most important difference in holacracy, is that
all circles are self-organizing. In other words, they
create their own roles and accountabilities.
It’s important to understand that self-organizing is
not the same as self-directing. That is, higher
management is accountable for defining the aim and
the scope of the circle, and for appointing the leader
who directs the circle toward its given aim. Within
these clear and marked borders and aims, circles are
self-organizing.
Because they are self-organizing and because their
governance meeting provides them with a structural
forum to deal with questions of governance, circles
are extremely agile organizational units which can
adapt to change and growth in an elegant manner. In
this way, adaptive capacity is embedded in structure
and processes, which allows the organizational
structure to grow organically with the organization.
Each circle maintains its own log of roles and
accountabilities, allowing higher management and the
circle itself to always have clarity about who is
accountable for what.
Holacracy creates a functional division between the
managing role in a circle (‘lead link’) and the role
representing the interests of the circle in the circle
above it (‘rep link’).
In order to ensure an effective flow and management
of information between circles, holacracy uses double
links.
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The lead link is generally the manager of the team,
and is appointed by management (i.e. the higher
circle). He or she is accountable for creating the
results defined by management, and has the
authority to make decisions in the circle.
The lead link, however, is not accountable for
representing the circle to the higher circle or layer
of management, as that is what the representative
link (rep link) is accountable for. This person is
elected by the circle, creating a high degree of
commitment to the organization, and making the
circle itself accountable for representing its needs
and interests with higher management.
Double linking disentangles the conflict of interests
which ails many middle managers. Because the rep
link is accountable for representing the interests of
its circle, the lead link can focus freely on pursuing
the aim as defined by management.
Establishing double links helps create a healthy flow
of information through the hierarchical layers of an
organization. In this way, management will be
informed of what is really going on in the circles
below it, while employees can trust that their
interests are being represented with higher
management.
As official licensee, Realize! is one of the first organizations
in Europe capable of implementing holacracy.
Implementations are flexible, tailor-made, and not timeconsuming (on the contrary). During a first conversation, we
explore the ‘fit’ with strategy and needs.
No time-consuming interventions
Implementing holacracy is not a time-consuming intervention
with long-term disruptive effects on operations. To begin with,
a new meeting practice is initiated during meetings which are
already taking place. Experience shows that the operational
meeting actually saves time from the start, because all of the
agenda items are dealt with effectively.
Flexible and workable implementation
Holacracy’s principles are also applied during an implementation, consisting of different modules, while an organization
can start working with holacracy in a single team or
department. In this way, it’s quite possible to kick off an
implementation by facilitating a set number of meetings.
Throughout the implementation process, there is a continuing
awareness of what is workable and how any tensions may be
integrated into the process.
Tailor-made implementation
Depending on variables such as the willingness to change and
its strategy, an organization can choose how to position the
implementation. Some organizations choose to position
themselves explicitly as an innovative and experimenting
organization. Others choose to follow more of a ‘low profile’
path, announcing ‘only’ that a more effective meeting practice
will be introduced.
Licence
Holacracy was developed by Brian Robertson, who established
HolacracyOne to guard the integrity of the concept and the
practice (www.holacracy.org). Realize! maintains a direct
relationship with Brian Robertson and HolacracyOne and is
qualified to offer holacracy-related services and holacracy
implementations.
Is holacracy for you?
During an informal intake conversation, we consider your current
organizational structure, meeting practices, the needs of your
organization and the implementation requirements. When a fit
exists between the needs of your organization and the
implementation criteria, we will draft a program and proposal
for implementation.
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When “that’s how things work around
here” no longer works...
"We see a world which is growing increasingly complex and
turbulent. In which global events move into local backyards. In
which some choose to close their eyes as individuals or
organizations. No fuss. Nothing new under the sun. Business as
usual. That’s a game we don’t play.
If change is a given, let’s look it in the eyes. And see the
opportunities, too. When “that is how things work around here” no
longer works, let’s create new ways of working. Which are fun,
make a meaningful contribution, and some money, too. Let’s get
rid of the consensus meetings and really trust our human creativity
and inspiration.
We see insight, quality and knowledge. So what’s missing? Will you
stand for what you really think is important and meaningful? Do
you realize your potential? Do you realize the change you want to
see in the world? That's a game we do play.”
Realize! is a working
practice of four
partners.
We cultivate
conscious people in
conscious
organizations.
We work in the space
between personal
and organizational
development.
Realize! B.V.
Westerstraat 187
1015 MA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
info@realize.nl
www.realize.nl
Jeroen Maes: +31 (0) 6 4989 3189
Diederick Janse: +31 (0) 6 1091 0021
Thomas Vaassen: +31 (0) 6 1431 1453
Teun Busser: +31 (0) 6 2822 8738
HolacracyOne, LLC
HolacracyOne, LLC
180 Sheree Blvd., Suite 2000
Exton, PA 19341
info@holacracyone.com
www.holacracyone.com
+1 484 359-8922