I am just back from Holacracy Facilitator Training that took place on Nyenrode campus, Breukelen, the Netherlands on March 24-28. My expectations were certainly met, as the training not only provided theoretical insights into organizational governance and steering I was looking for, but also, and more importantly, created a space for experiencing the “evolutionary next step of the organization” and “organization beyond the personal” through practical exercises and simulations.

The training confirmed many of my preconceived notions on how dynamic steering and organizational agility can be achieved: drive by purpose top-down, empower policy-making and decision-making at all levels, implant feedback measures bottom-up. What was somewhat new to me was the notion of integrative decision-making, which is about addressing the tensions that individuals experience in their roles and coming up with workable, good-enough solutions that relieve those tensions and that can be enacted immediately and revisited later, if necessary.

Another key tenet of Holacracy that stroke my chord is the clear separation of governance from operational work. Governance merely sets the requisite structure that channels the flow in the organization: clear roles, accountabilities and policies that let people concentrate on their operational work. The frequency of governance meetings is tuned with the natural heart beat of the organization; slower is faster.

Learning to facilitate Holacracy was like learning to drive car. In the beginning it was hard to concentrate on all aspects at the same time: the process, the aim, the content; but with practice, practice, practice and learning by failing the process was gradually internalized, which freed one to focus on “holding space for the organization’s voice”.

Kudos to HolacracyOne and thanks to all the participants for the great learning-together experience!