Tuesday, May 12, 2015

A sagging of sorts at Zappos paradize


 
Holacracy®.... what the heck is it?   (Link to video above)
Yes, the registered trademark symbol is necessary. Crazy as it sounds, Holacracy — as an organizational design model — is trademarked (...).

In a nutshell, Holacracy is an organizational structure — initially devised by self-described “recovering CEO” Brian Robertson of HolacracyOne — that purports to do the following:
Holacracy is a distributed authority system – a set of “rules of the game” that bake empowerment into the core of the organization. Unlike conventional top-down or progressive bottom-up approaches, it integrates the benefits of both without relying on parental heroic leaders. Everyone becomes a leader of their roles and a follower of others’, processing tensions with real authority and real responsibility, through dynamic governance and transparent operations.
Holacracy is depicted as a way to operate an organization without the classic “command and control” dogma found in many of today’s organizations... (read more)
Holacracy or bust...
On the surface, one might imagine that everyday employees would be thrilled to work in an environment free from overbearing supervisors (that class of non-farm laborer who, in America, is enjoying record wage growth even as those they manage have seen their pay stagnate) harboring false notions of superiority. This is probably why Hsieh [Zappos CEO, still?] felt comfortable distributing a memo which criticized the company’s lack of progress in shifting to a completely Holacratic structure, to Zappos’ 1,500 employees.

In the memo, Hsieh essentially gives employees a deadline for full implementation before reminding them that they are free to take “the offer”, a reference to Zappos’ practice of offering to pay employees to quit. The rationale behind the practice is to ensure that everyone who works at Zappos truly wants to be there. Historically, only around 1-3% of employees accept the pay-to-quit proposition and as such, it likely came as quite a surprise to Hsieh when more than 200 people chose to take the money and run rather than work in an environment with no managers. (read more)

14 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I had to look up what "Zappos" is.
On-line stuff.
Oh joy - stuff.

So much of everything is like a weird cult.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Zappos is an online shoe store that everybody was raving about back when it was first conceived. It was sold to Amazon for gazillions of dollars.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Oh - so Zappos sits under the Amazon umbrella. I did not know that. I have to admit I use Amazon more than I should. It's just so dang convenient.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Unlike conventional top-down or progressive bottom-up approaches, it integrates the benefits of both without relying on parental heroic leaders. Everyone becomes a leader of their roles and a follower of others’, processing tensions with real authority and real responsibility, through dynamic governance and transparent operations.

Sounds perfect. Which is troubling.

DADvocate said...

Ironically, this no top-down management style is being forced on employees by the top manager, a heroic leader.

DADvocate said...

Looks like anarchy to me.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

On principle, on paper, it sounds wonderful.

I'd imagine if they stick to one thing, and that may be the fly in the ointment, it could work.

The fly being doing one thing and one thing only, w/o any cajoling, while staying motivated.

Human nature is a tricky thing.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I'm really bummed about this.

Zappos is my go to place for shoes. I have one foot that is wider than the other and it is next to impossible in the shoe stores available to me to find any thing other than Nurse Nancy types of shoes in a wide width.

Zappos has/had zillions of choices from great brands, also not carried in the local stores. Good shoes and great service where I can order shoes, try them on at home and send them back if they don't fit ....FREE SHIPPING.

I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars through them buying shoes, boots, sandals.

Now the service will probably suck.

:-(

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

DBQ - do you know about Footsmart.com? Free shipping on any order over 59$ (which is easy - that's one pair of shoes in most cases)

A friend turned me on to "Vionic" brand because of my plantar fasciitis and high arches. I love em'.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Thanks April!

I'll check it out. Buying shoes....actually shopping for clothing of any kind is one of my least favorite things to do. I hate shopping.

If I can buy on line and get a good selection then, I'm a happy camper.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Sure!

I don't like to shop either. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I want stylist fashionable hip flattering perfectly fitting clothes and shoes to magically land in my closet.

whoever can make that happen will rule the world.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Remember to uses the Amazon portal here. Thanks.

Rabel said...

Perhaps the 4,700 word memo from Mr. Hsieh was a crystallizing moment for the departing employees in which, despite their degrees and their high status zip codes and regardless of their former athletic exploits, they realized that at the end of the day they were simply shoe salesmen and under the rules of the Holacracy their bosses were soon to be other shoe salesmen, and, knowing themselves all too well, they decided that it would be wiser to stay at home and eat bon-bons on the couch with the wife and kids than to submit to the dictatorship of their peers.

Methadras said...

Valve is a Holacracy. I know I interviewed there years ago and I was told and got to see it work as such.