This is the second blog post that I wrote for Synergy Software Design (SSD).

My notes for this post are 11 pages long. I was able to distill them down to about a four-page blog post, which made it in just under the wire. What I’ve heard from people is that it is surprisingly highly readable despite its complexity and density, well-researched, and very interesting. So, you know, go read it.

Here it is.

Holacracy: Scratching the Bubble at Synergy Software Design

It was my original intention to include the Cell system at the end of this, but it seemed like a selfish plug and would have added a full page more to the post. Instead, I used the Cell to talk about the other systems, how they related to and differed from each other. After all, one major application of the Cell is as a tool for thinking about organizations. If you’re interested, I’m happy to explain how I applied it to Holacracy, Bureaucracy, Democracy, and Hierarchy to include details and pretty pretty pictures.

The point I wanted to make was that all four of those… systems? models?… anyway… all of them exist within virtually every organization, just in greater or lesser degree depending on that organization’s character (as opposed to that organization’s need, which character can some run in opposition to). Within democratic organization there is someone barking directions. Even in a strict hierarchy, there is consultation and consensus. The may only be at the very top or very bottom or sprinkled around here and there, but they are present and they are necessary.

This is recognized in the Cell system as an integral part of how units and units of units interact with each other and within (interconnections and intraconnections). I habitually think about organizations in military terms because militaries have traditionally been an excellent crucible for organizational models. That is, if a military system fails, then the society that it defends, regardless of how well its political or economic systems work, ceases to be relevant in history.

That said, the study of organizational models applies to the fields of business, medicine, and education. The world of commerce borrows heavily from the military, utilizing similar terminology, similar tactical principles, and similar organizational structure, even where these things are applied and practiced somewhat differently.

One day I’d love to sit down and write a great big book all about it with all the trimmings, but I’m working on just one book right now and, alas, this isn’t it. Right now, see what you can tease out of this post and the Marine Cell, as I used the same tools to write both.

Do no harm, but take no shit.
-CG