What are ways to bring sociocracy to corporate culture?
I’m looking for examples, suggestions, learnings, etc.
There are many philosophical elements which could be woven in, like:
- self governance/participation in decision making with a ‘good enough for now and safe enough to try’ tolerance
- use of interconnected groups with clear domains (and aims)
- prioritizing feedback within the system through multiple links/avenues
as well as specific practices such as:
- having clear meeting roles, especially a facilitator who is not also the group leader
- clear policy with review dates
- sociocratic feedback processes
- sociocratic selection processes with review dates
- clear aims and domains for groups
- sociocractic proposal forming process
etc.
However, it’s important to note that when peacemeal adopting sociocracy, it often creates an unusual effect - like the illusion of ownership without real ownership, it can sometime be confusing or have unusual impacts if only parts of the philosophy are adopted.
I’m sitting and thinking on this in my context at the moment and am quietly observing where I feel Sociocracy could help and also how might I introduce Sociocracy and to whom.
I’ve had positive feedback on the agenda template as a means of capturing succinct data and silence on aspects that don’t make sense.
I’ve submitted a variety of nudges towards Sociocracy and not landed an effective suggestion that’s stuck (yet).
I’m wondering what factors are at play: timing, power, domains, transparency, accountability and more.
I response, I’ve heard labels along the lines of “over-complicating”, which echoes other responses. It’s clear that culture and openness plays a key role, and, I keep coming back to something I read about the value of leadership buy-in, which I don’t have as an employee. So an interesting observation for me.
In terms of examples, suggestions and learnings, I’m also seeking out similar inspiration. I’m thinking I’ll start with John Buck, who spoke to the 22-23 Academy cohort and really provided faith that corporate adoption is possible, as well as reaffirming that it’s less widely adopted in that world than in others.
In short, my learning would be a question around how applicable Sociocracy can be to, say, target driven teams Vs strategic depts. Especially when it comes to adoption.
Although Sociocracy helps me see gaps, I don’t yet feel confident in bridging the gaps with my knowledge, so very tricky. I don’t have the answer and it may not come to me in my current role, but I’ll keep looking, thinking and applying one Sociocracy took at a time, thinking along the lines of what CJ suggests in that they are actionable and concrete mechanisms that have strategic value and might form part of a nudge towards a change of culture more in line with what Sociocracy is.