The Dolt's Guide To Self-Organization
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The document discusses self-organization, defining it as a process where systems increase in complexity without external management. It emphasizes the importance of balance in leadership and governance, using concepts like trust and delegation to manage complexity within teams. The author also highlights the need for distributed governance to effectively handle the nuances of self-organizing systems.
![The Darkness Principle
“Each element in the system is ignorant of the
behavior of the system as a whole [...] If each element
‘knew’ what was happening to the system as a whole,
all of the complexity would have to be present in that
element.”
http://iscepublishing.com/ECO/ECO_other/Issue_6_3_10_FM.pdf](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/thedoltsguidetoself-organization-100305085701-phpapp02/85/The-Dolt-s-Guide-To-Self-Organization-45-320.jpg)
The Dolt's Guide To Self-Organization
- 1. The Dolt’s Guide to Self-Organization Jurgen Appelo jurgen@noop.nl version 3
- 3. Get my new book for FREE! m30.me/ss
- 4. Goal #1 OK, so what is self-organization really?
- 5. Goal #2 How can we make self-organization work?
- 7. We have been taught about linearsystems
- 8. But then reality confronted us with non-linear systems
- 9. That is like teaching people all about fruit flies
- 10. And then lumping everything else together in the group of… non-fruit flies Huh?
- 11. Let’s adopt a more realistic approach First, there was a (big) bang!
- 12. …and then strings formed particles
- 13. …and particles formed molecules
- 14. …and molecules formed solar systems
- 16. …and cells formed species
- 17. …and species formed groups
- 18. …and groups formed ecosystems
- 19. …and economies
- 20. …and every system organized itself.
- 21. Self-organization… a definition “Self-organization is a process of attraction and repulsion in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization
- 23. Cool!
- 24. but…
- 25. Self-organization has a dark side…
- 27. Self-organization… the dark side http://www.flickr.com/photos/agder/2783124139/
- 30. But people care… about value.
- 31. “Self-organization requires that the system is surrounded by a containing boundary.This condition defines the "self" that will be developed during the self-organizing process.” http://amauta-international.com/iaf99/Thread1/conway.html
- 32. The containing boundary has a chance to direct self-organization towards value
- 34. Directed self-organization Don’t go here! Go there!
- 35. Governance + leadership Don’t go here! Go there! http://www.flickr.com/photos/egadapparel/3212007816/
- 36. Self-organization is the norm
- 37. Management is the special case
- 38. We all manage something every day
- 39. But management must be balanced
- 40. Self-organized For example: a software development team Self-selected (= self-designed) Self-organized and system selects its own members For example: founders of a start-up business Self-directed (= self-governed) Self-selected and no direction outside the system For example: criminal organization Three levels of self-organization
- 41. And then there’s Emergence… Supervenience Emergent properties appear at a higher level that didn’t exist in the components Not just aggregation Impossible to “build” the system as an aggregate from the components Downward causality The emergent properties have a real effect on the lower-level components
- 45. The Darkness Principle “Each element in the system is ignorant of the behavior of the system as a whole [...] If each element ‘knew’ what was happening to the system as a whole, all of the complexity would have to be present in that element.” http://iscepublishing.com/ECO/ECO_other/Issue_6_3_10_FM.pdf
- 46. The Law of RequisiteVariety “If a system is to be stable the number of states of its control mechanism must be greater than or equal to the number of states in the system being controlled.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_%28cybernetics%29
- 47. In human terms… A team is too complex to manage by just one person. Only people have the ability to manage complexity.
- 48. Therefore, management requires… Distributed governance and leadership
- 50. Managing a lifeless system is all about instruction
- 51. Managing a living system is all about communication
- 53. Key Decision Areas Reinertsen, Donald. Managing the Design Factory. New York: Free Press, 1997, page 107. Make explicit list with “areas of authorization” Prepare project schedules Select key technologies Set documentation standards Etc… People should not walk into “invisible electric fences”
- 54. Key Decision Areas Reinertsen, Donald. Managing the Design Factory. New York: Free Press, 1997, page 107. However… Authorization per key decision area is not a “binary” thing
- 55. Situational Leadership http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership_theory Four different “leadership styles” 1. Telling 2. Selling 3. Participating 4. Delegation Work your way to level 4
- 56. Situational Leadership However… It might be good to distinguish between informing people (push your opinion) vs. consulting them (pull their opinions)
- 57. RACI Matrix http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_assignment_matrix Involvement depends on tasks Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed Make explicit what people can expect from whom
- 58. RACI Matrix However… Key decision areas are better than tasks, and there should be no separation of accountable versus responsible in Agile teams
- 59. We will now mergethe ideas behind the previous examples...
- 60. 1. Tell: make decision as the manager 2. Sell: convince people about decision 3. Consult: get input from team before decision 4. Agree: make decision together with team 5. Advise: influence decision made by the team 6. Inquire: ask feedback after decision by team 7. Delegate: no influence, let team work it out The Seven Levels of Authority
- 61. Light (low impact) Example: coding guidelines, workshops Moderate(medium impact) Example: self-education, tool selection Advanced (high impact) Example: self-selection, open salaries Three levels of maturity in empowerment
- 62. Empower the team empower individualsor Choose (sorry, no magic formula)
- 63. The delegation Checklist • Are tools available? • Understanding of results? • Boundary conditions clear? • When is the work due? • What does progress looks like? • How often to report? • Coaching available? • Is risk factor addressed? • Right empowerment skills? • Right level of authority? • Individuals or to teams? • Right order of delegation? • Discrete chunk of work? • Skills to do the work? • Right format for work products? Adapted from: Behind Closed Doors (Rothman, Derby)
- 64. Empowerment is an investment Beware of the micromanagement trap (no patience while waiting for ROI)
- 65. Paradox: empowerment increases status
- 67. Manage individuals (to protect the self-organizing system)
- 68. Manage top management (to protect the self-organizing system)
- 69. Manage the environment (to protect the self-organizing system)
- 71. 2) Earn trust from your people
- 72. 3) Help people to trust each other
- 73. 4)Trust yourself
- 74. The four types of trust
- 76. Self-organization is the norm http://www.flickr.com/photos/wobblyturkey/527370752/
- 77. Management is the special case http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/3495664861/
- 78. Management = governance and leadership http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/3495664861/
- 79. Management = direction and delegation http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/3495664861/
- 80. 1. Tell: make decision as the manager 2. Sell: convince people about decision 3. Consult: get input from team before decision 4. Agree: make decision together with team 5. Advise: influence decision made by the team 6. Inquire: ask feedback after decision by team 7. Delegate: no influence, let team work it out The Seven Levels of Authority
- 81. The four types of trust
- 82. The End
- 85. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ This presentation was inspired by the works of many people, and I cannot possibly list them all. Though I did my very best to attribute all authors of texts and images, and to recognize any copyrights, if you think that anything in this presentation should be changed, added or removed, please contact me at jurgen@noop.nl.