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I'm curious to hear how well it scales, and also what the downsides are once they come out. A lack of praise for employees seems like a fairly minor issue. It'

I'm curious to hear how well it scales, and also what the downsides are once they come out. A lack of praise for employees seems like a fairly minor issue. It's been said Valve is somewhat like high school with their completely flat hierarchy, although this is never mentioned in the many articles praising their management structure (or lack thereof). I'm curious if this type of management system causes similar problems. That being said, everyone is different and some people (and cultures - Germany, Switzerland) function in a hierarchy very well, while others don't. I think the article alludes a little to this with the comment about individuals who take initiative vs those who don't. IMHO, those individuals who take initiative on their own are drawn to entrepreneurship and small companies, whereas those who don't are drawn to large corporations where others can set goals for them and as they achieve those goals, they move up. As Medium grows, they're inevitably going to attract more of the latter type, and it will be harder to provide meaningful roles for the former type.

nomade0 13y ago
Based on what I read about Valve, it is not surprising that they have a lot of politics going on. That's the issue with flat structures - when authorities and accountabilities are unclear, you need make alliances (seen as "cliques" from the exterior) to get your projects moving forward. On the contrary, Holacracy has processes that push for clarity. It distinguishes people and their roles, and provides forums (e.g., clear meeting processes) to address misalignments and conflicts between roles, in service of the company's purpose. It's well explained in this 3-min video http://youtu.be/9U_XDin5tjI http://youtu.be/9U_XDin5tjI Disclosure; I work with HolacracyOne. Hope that clarifies the difference a bit
- jeremyt 13y ago
  Not really well explained. Nothing about the process is explained in the video. The only thing the video does is spend three minutes saying "if you have a problem, solve it among yourselves rather than going to the boss".
  - nomade0 13y ago
    No, the processes themselves are not explained in this video. This other one explains "tactical meetings": http://youtu.be/8NrsVBATZCM http://youtu.be/8NrsVBATZCM That said if you want the technicalities of the process, you'll find everything in the constitution (not as entertaining, but more accurate): http://holacracy.org/constitution http://holacracy.org/constitution

nomade0 13y ago

Based on what I read about Valve, it is not surprising that they have a lot of politics going on. That's the issue with flat structures - when authorities and accountabilities are unclear, you need make alliances (seen as "cliques" from the exterior) to get your projects moving forward. On the contrary, Holacracy has processes that push for clarity. It distinguishes people and their roles, and provides forums (e.g., clear meeting processes) to address misalignments and conflicts between roles, in service of the company's purpose. It's well explained in this 3-min video http://youtu.be/9U_XDin5tjI http://youtu.be/9U_XDin5tjI Disclosure; I work with HolacracyOne. Hope that clarifies the difference a bit

jeremyt 13y ago
Not really well explained. Nothing about the process is explained in the video. The only thing the video does is spend three minutes saying "if you have a problem, solve it among yourselves rather than going to the boss".
- nomade0 13y ago
  No, the processes themselves are not explained in this video. This other one explains "tactical meetings": http://youtu.be/8NrsVBATZCM http://youtu.be/8NrsVBATZCM That said if you want the technicalities of the process, you'll find everything in the constitution (not as entertaining, but more accurate): http://holacracy.org/constitution http://holacracy.org/constitution