I actually think this is a false dichotomy, and a common misunderstanding. You do get a hierarchy in a self-organising team. The self-organisation will re-produ

I actually think this is a false dichotomy, and a common misunderstanding. You do get a hierarchy in a self-organising team. The self-organisation will re-produce itself, and produce a hierarchy with components from within the system itself. This is how we view it in my company. The difference between self-organizing and traditional methods of organizing is the following: In traditional methods of organizing, the hierarchy is fixed, and embedded within a specific role. i.e a Product Owner. Usually it is also imposed from outside. With self-organization power is "fluid" , in that it shifts based on the circumstance and context. The system itself will internally produce the hierarchy. This hierarchy is emergent based on the specific context, in order to deal with the specific situation. To put it simply, a self-organising system is much more adaptable. The hierarchy and structure is emergent. Organisation is not imposed from outside, but from within. The hierarchy itself can shift from moment to moment. * YCombinator? * Edit for clarity