Future Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan

Ep 65: Holacracy and New Organizational Structures for the Future of Work

Dec 28, 2015

Alexis Gonzales-Black, former organizational design lead for Zappos, discusses the concept of Holacracy and its implementation at Zappos. She explores alternative organizational structures and highlights the benefits of self-organization and distributed authority. A must-listen for anyone interested in the future of work.

58:41

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Episode guests

Alexis Gonzales-Black

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Quick takeaways

Implementing Holacracy requires behavior and mindset changes, understanding the unique needs of each organization.

Self-management and self-organization are part of the future of work trend, with companies moving towards distributed decision-making and autonomy.

A balance between a strong sense of identity and purpose, openness to change, and focus on the organization's mission is crucial when combining the family mentality with Holacracy.

Deep dives

Implementing Holacracy at Zappos

Zappos embarked on a journey to implement Holacracy, a self-management and self-organization system. The transition took around three years and involved pilot groups and rolling out Holacracy governance and tactical meetings. While there were challenges, 86% of employees chose to stay and continue with the implementation. The company aimed to distribute authority, increase transparency, and create a more responsive structure for decision-making. However, it was important to recognize the hurdles of behavior change, fear, and identity that employees experienced during the process. The downtown project in Las Vegas also experimented with Holacracy but adapted and integrated only the relevant parts into their organization.

Agile Decision-Making and Risk Evaluation

01:10

Transitioning to Holicracy's Model

00:48

Introduction

3min

Exploring Organizational Structures for the Future of Work with Alexis Gonzalez Black

2min

Role and Responsibilities at Zappos: Implementing Holacracy and Advocating for Diversity

2min

Holacracy and Distributed Authority

16min

Transitioning to Holacracy

19min

Determining Relevance of Holacracy

16min

Wrapping up the Conversation on Co-locracy and Self-Management

2min

Today my guest for the Future of Work Podcast is Alexis Gonzales-Black. Alexis is the former organizational design lead for Zappos, and is currently the co-founder of Thoughtful Org Partners. Previously, I spoke with Brian J. Robertson, the creator of the concept of Holacracy. This concept received fame because of Zappos initiatives around Holacracy. Alexis is one of the people who helped lead the entire Holacracy transition there.

Alexis was a part if the pilot group at Zappos for Holacracy. She worked on the implementation team for over 2 years. Currently, Alexis works with Thoughtful Org, which she co-founded, to help companies explore what the future structure of their organizations look like. In Holacracy, as an operating system, individuals are not confined to one group or team. Reaching across the organization for opportunities is available and encouraged. Self-organization can be used as a diversity and inclusiveness tool as well. Alexis provides great insights to alternative organizational structures. This podcast is a must listen to anyone who wants to learn about alternative organizational structures and how they could work for your company.

What you will learn in this episode

What is Holacracy?
How Self Organizations Work In the Decision-making Process
What Zappos has done with Holacracy and Where They Are Going
The Difference between Empowerment and Distributed Authority
Holacracy and the New Internal Job Board
New Organizational Structures
Alternatives to Hierarchy

Link from the episode

Thoughtful Org Partners

(Music by Ronald Jenkees)

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Future Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan

Ep 65: Holacracy and New Organizational Structures for the Future of Work

Episode guests