Step 1: Assess the underlying assumptions to your operating model right now
Start by assessing where on the continuum between bureaucracy and humanocracy your organisation stands right now. Laloux (2014) divides organisations into five maturity levels, which evolve in terms of human centricity. Examples range from mafia-like organisations (red), scoring high on power, fear and command of authority, to teal organisations, which are characterised by e.g. having an evolutionary purpose, using self-management and having distributed leadership. Start by assessing where your organisation stands right now.
Step 2: Be clear on your ambition and your reason for becoming more human-centric
If you want to transform your organisation from where it is right now into a more human-centric one, then you should be very clear on your “why”. Why is it that you want to change? How much do you want to change? Is your ambition to become a teal organisation, or does an orange organisational setup serve your purposes best? Become clear and formalised about which goals you aim to achieve by evolving your organisations.
Step 3: Define the central steps by involving your organisation from the beginning
Involve your organisation broadly and from the very beginning when planning the central steps to change. Special attention should be given to the following elements: which kind of leadership style encourages more self-managed employees? How do you need to adjust your organisation’s strategy, KPIs and team structures to decentralise decision-making power and autonomy? Invite your entire organisation to find answers to these questions collectively. It will be a shared responsibility for every employee to change the fundamental assumptions on how to run your organisation in a more humanocratic manner going forward.
Sources
*Hayes, M., Chumney, F. & Buckingham, M. (2020). Global Workplace Study 2020, 29 September 2020, ADP Research Institute.
Pink, D. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Zanini, M. (2020). What is Humanocracy?
Laloux, F. (2014). Reinventing organizations.
Gallup (2018). Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report.