Understanding Holacracy in 10 points
It may be a shining buzzword or it may be a recipe to become Agile Transformed organization, so what is 'Holacracy'?
Basically, 'boss-less', 'flat' and 'self-managing' teams.
Leadership is contextual -- it is assigned to a role and not to a person.
Zappos, Morning Star are few companies who have implemented.
Teams are the structure not 'structure is the structure'.
Within teams individuals roles are collectively defined.
There is a 'working agreement' or 'constitution' which defines how these teams are made and work together.
There is a role lead-link to connect with other teams (sometimes called circles).
People can propose a role for their work for e.g. UI Liasion, Ways of working coach etc.
Yes, there are complexities - increasing number of responsibilities, compensation, hiring, all members don't exercise their power and voices.
If organization wants to implement self-management then think through three questions: What needs to be reliable, what kind of adaptations are important, what organizational forms will produce the right balance in this case?
Reference:
Beyond the Holacracy Hype - The overwrought claims—and actual promise—of the next generation of self-managed teams by Ethan Bernstein, John Bunch, Niko Canner, and Michael Lee