Why self-organization
Self-organization is en vogue. Suddenly, the topic is popping up in all sorts of places, is the subject of its own symposia, is being discussed intensively and is even on the agenda of various CxOs. But can the interest be trusted? Is it just the next fad that is more or less routinely surfed or is there real interest in change behind it? Or even a necessity? In short: what is the point of self-organization?
Frederic Laloux, author of the influential book Reinventing Organizations, sees two main promises of happiness associated with self-management: first, the release of energies that were previously unavailable - for example, through the distribution of creative power, through more motivated learning or through more intensive exchange; and second, the better channelling of existing energies - for example, through more prudent perception by all employees, through better decision-making or through more effective coordination.
Beyond this general perspective, we see four tangible motives for self-organization:
1. cultural motives
It is about more meaning, more fairness, more democratic conditions and a different working climate, where joy and fun are not just nice words. There is a focus on people's knowledge and skills and real freedom is granted. To this end, work-relevant information is disclosed and the connection to the big picture is established: What are we actually here for? What do we want? What values are most important to us? The cultural paradigm of self-organization is often related to a generational change in family businesses: young successors like Ricardo Semler (Semco), Klaus Hoppmann (Autowelt Hoppmann) or Christoph Haase (Tele Haase) want to lead differently than the founding generation.
In other cases, self-organisation is rooted in the personal philosophy of pioneers such as Bill Gore (Gore Tex), Götz Werner (dm) or Hartger Ruijs (Computest). Then there are the cases where crisis experiences are the driver - as in the case of Bodo Janssen (Upstalsboom). And finally, there is the broad front of companies that see employee satisfaction as a central success factor and consistently invest in the corresponding framework conditions - as is the case in particular in digital businesses such as sipgate, Invision, LIIP, Menlo Innovations or Spotify.
2. strategic motives
The point is to identify lucrative business opportunities as well as potential market risks as early as possible. If volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are the signs of our times, companies need a sensorium that can cope with such a world. Since Hal Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety we have known that external complexity can only be answered with internal complexity. It is therefore a matter of faster, but above all broader perception of requirements. All employees should now put out their feelers, as it were, and act as sensors for environmental events.
A broad, customer-oriented sensorium makes it easier to register necessary changes of course as early as possible: be it in the sense of new customer wishes, essential improvement measures or possible fields of innovation. In self-organized companies, everyone becomes such a sensor - just as in a living organism every cell can perceive its environment and inform us accordingly. Such sensitivity exists everywhere - in traditional organizations, however, the information gathered in the process is often heavily filtered.
3. structural motives
It is about making one's own organization fit for the requirements of the VUKA world. How does a company consistently align itself with the market? How does it ensure that decisions are as close to the customer as possible? And what internal structures and processes are needed to achieve this? Organizational design is the technical term that guides the answering of these questions. It is primarily a matter of designing the systemic framework within which work is carried out. In this respect, self-organized companies are guided by three principles in particular:
The consistent market orientation. The customer first is the principle: What does the customer need? What does he attach particular importance to? What else could be valuable? And how can we provide him with that as quickly and as inexpensively as possible?
Direct interaction with customers. Regular involvement, trusting communication, intensive feedback and even joint development work (keyword: design thinking). Decentralized units of manageable size that are focused on a specific customer group, product or region have proven successful for this purpose.
The slim body. As we all know, agility is also a matter of weight. If a whole apparatus of superiors and specialist departments has to be mobilized for every decision, the entrepreneurial agility that everyone seems to be dreaming of at the moment is over in a flash. The recipe for success is a flat hierarchy, a minimum of central functions and guidelines, and a maximum of autonomy. Transparency improves information flows and demonstrably leads to better decisions. Visual work management helps to make even the most complex work processes and dependencies transparent and facilitates effective self-control.
4. business motives
It is about measurable success. Self-organization may and should pay off. After all, it is considered the catalyst of a stable angelic circle of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and profitability. When employees are more motivated, when they manage what they do well themselves, when they coordinate better with each other and with relevant stakeholders, this also has an effect on customers. And if customers, for their part, feel better taken care of, if they have the impression that their wishes are really being taken care of and that the much-cited extra mile is being gone in between, this in turn is reflected in better feedback. This in turn increases the motivation of the employees, as they can see the meaning and benefit of their efforts. And so on and so forth.
It goes without saying that the motifs mentioned rarely occur in pure culture. They are much more likely to appear in various mixed forms. And they change over time: what was originally primarily culturally motivated expands to include strategic interests, a change in organizational design brings with it a different culture, the primacy of customer orientation leads to a stronger employee focus, and the like. Business motives are always there, but they are not at the forefront of self-organized companies. And everyone involved knows that the aforementioned circle of angels is by no means a magical perpetual motion machine. However, provided that they are attentive and willing to learn, self-organized companies need not worry much about their business.