What is holacracy?
Holacracy is an operating system for organizations looking to embed flexibility and effectiveness in their core processes, such as meetings, decision-making processes and the organizational structure. This operating system consists of an organizational structure, a governance structure, and three principles that enable the organization to steer dynamically.
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 is a practice in answering the following questions:
- How do we make decisions?
- Who makes which decisions?
- How do we make changes in policy and structure?
The principles underlying holacracy
Holacracy makes use of three guiding principles, which are oriented toward steering the organization in a dynamic way. These principles are:
Present tensions are all that matter
Any issue can be revisited at any time
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.
Holacracy was developed by Brian Robertson, who established HolacracyOne to guard the integrity of the concept and the practice. Realize! maintains a direct relationship with Brian Robertson and HolacracyOne and is qualified to offer holacracy-related services and facilitate implementations.
