That's a wonderfully neutral and objective comment. Thanks, bcmyers! It helps to be a discerning consumer of media, because there is quite a lot of mis- and disinformation about Holacracy.
Coincidentally, the same is true of GTD. Plenty of things have been written by people who didn't bother to learn about—much less get experienced with—the GTD methodology, who nonetheless state that it doesn't work.
Thanks, John. I take your point -- a lot of armchair pundits critique GTD from a position of ignorance. So it is wise to view critiques of Holacracy with at least a bit of skepticism.
The video discussion between Kelly Forrister and Brian Robertson on the page
@TesTeq linked to was enlightening (although I haven't had time to watch it in its entirety yet), as was my brief review the Holacracy web site. Again, I don't know enough to form an opinion about it but it is intriguing to learn about it.
My bias is to be suspicious of new management philosophies based on my experience living through a bungled implementation of TQM more than two decades ago. Much of the stuff that I've read about the Zappos implementation raises my hackles; for example, if the Fortune article to which I linked is correct about how easily people can lose their jobs if they fail to accumulate enough "people points", that sounds inhumane.
But as a former journalist, I know full well that even the best of them can fall prey to the temptation to sensationalize. Moreover, even if it is accurate I don't know if this is a core concept of Holacracy or Zappos own interpretation.
Kelly Forrister's discussion with Brian Robertson (or again, what I was able to view of it) piqued my interest, particularly Kelly's observation about how so many work meetings end without clarity about next actions and owners. My own GTD practice has instilled in me a habit of insisting on such clarity before any meeting concludes. If I understand correctly, Holacracy principles include baking this sort of clarity into meeting formats. Again, I find that intriguing.
Would you be willing to comment about how well Holacracy works at David Allen Co.? Do you have an opinion about how well it works elsewhere that you'd be willing to share (I understand if that's tough given that your company sells consulting services, seminars, etc. to corporate clients and you may not want to sound critical of current clients or future prospects)?
If anyone else has experience with Holacracy where they work and would like to comment, I would love to read it. I don't have a basis for opinion but am interested in learning from others about this.