Self Management Culture

Our aim is to help the world become a better place, therefore we need to make sure we care about our people and give them the power to build great things. These are some of the principles that define our culture:

We Trust:

• Our team structure relies on self-organization.
• We want to work with colleagues who don't have to look ‘up’ for approval, nor look ‘down’
  and give instructions.
• As soon as you step inside, we will provide you with the best tools and technology, and then we will trust you to do great things.

We Delight:

• We use our deep understanding of people’s needs to spark delight.
• Our choices are based on science, research, and design principles.

We Care:

• For ourselves, our colleagues, and the organization.
• We know what we do is important and we have a strong sense of responsibility for the
  work we do.

We Grow:

• As we are always embarking on new projects and challenges, a
  continuous learning mindset and a “Can Do” attitude is a must
• We are conscientious, we focus on learning and achieving our goals
• We give power to people so they can make decisions, and plot their own paths
  with help from all around them

We have fun:

• We also know that you need to balance seriousness with fun.
• If you can make people smile you will be off to a great start!

What do we mean when we say we are a Self Managed Organization?

At its most basic level “self-management” means that power traditionally held by “managers” is decentralized through the organization. At Vizzuality, you don’t have a boss or a line manager, and the responsibilities that a traditional manager may have played are distributed amongst our team members (including yourself!).

It also means that our organizational structure doesn’t come from a top-down mandate, but is created through our peer-to-peer interactions and agreements.

Why have we chosen this way of operating?

Engagement - We assume our team members are internally motivated, enjoy their job, and will work to better themselves and the organization without needing to be explicitly directed by a “boss.”

Agility & Resilience - Self-management makes us able to sense and respond to change quicker, by distributing authority throughout the organization. In uncertainty and change, we can edit our structure to make us more adaptable

Equity - A clear and explicit organizational structure is more inclusive of all members since it reduces the power that is traditionally held by those “in-the-know” when structures and authority are implicit.

So who gives me permission to do things?

Anyone at Vizzuality is expected to take any action they believe will help move the organization toward its purpose, as long as a team or a specific policy doesn’t explicitly forbid it.

If you’re unsure, or if it’s a decision that will impact the team more widely, you can and should ask your team members for advice, and they will give input and have an impact on your decision. But ultimately, if you own that responsibility or domain, you make the final call. Since you’ve been placed in that role, your team members have essentially consented in advance to your decisions - and there will definitely be times when you won’t integrate their advice. The same thing will happen to you.

In addition to taking action, when you are fulfilling your roles you are expected to notice tensions (gaps, issues, and opportunities) in our systems. When you identify a tension with our systems you are expected to proactively bring a proposal designed to solve the problem and drive change.

Proposals are processed using a governance process we call ‘consent’. In consent, the bar for someone actually “objecting” to a decision that you make is very high - specifically, only if they have evidence that letting the decision happen will cause harm to the business, or isn’t safe to try. Think about that - sure, there are a lot of decisions that might not be the best idea to move forward with (in your opinion or in others’ opinions), but there are few that would actually cause real harm. It’s an entirely different way of looking at responsibilities and how we function as a team.

In the world of self-management, there are no best or right ideas - the assumption is that the starting place is always wrong. And if a team member “owns” the decision rights for a domain or is the one making the proposal, it’s their prerogative to integrate feedback that they find useful or dismiss feedback that they feel isn’t helpful.

So be ready for some uncomfortable moments where you’ll have to put your ego aside and “consent” to something that you might disagree with. On the flip side, if you sense tensions within the system or believe that something isn’t safe to try or will cause harm, be ready to bring that perspective forward and make a case, even if you are the only one holding that perspective.

So that’s how we improve our systems - but we also use feedback to improve ourselves!

Our self-organizing system encourages autonomy and bias to action; we accept and welcome when this creates tensions with our system because we can use tensions to learn and grow. Since not all tensions are resolvable through structural changes, a governance system that accounted for every tension would quickly become bloated.

For that reason, we’re big believers that a culture of feedback is one of the most important ingredients to get better, build strong relationships, grow thriving teams, and achieve our goals. Meaningful feedback happens when someone invested in your growth tells you what they experience when working with you, with the goal of helping you and the organization get better.

You should expect to continuously both give and receive feedback to your team members, both in a group setting (via our “retrospectives” and team feedback sessions) and also individually to your peers. Feedback can be hard! A fundamental mindset we hold is that feedback is a gift, and as such should be given and received gracefully.

How Does Leadership Work In A Self-Organizing System?

We may not have bosses, but we do have leaders. Leadership is defined by roles and responsibilities (not at seniority levels). In that sense, we think of leadership as facilitative, not hierarchical. In addition to roles, we expect leadership to emerge, based on personal interests, strengths, skills, or client relationships. As a growing and evolving organization, we know you will have many opportunities to lead and we look forward to learning from you!

Are there any specific Self Management Capabilities?

There are 3 key capabilities that enable self-managed people, and therefore organizations.

Source of Agency (Initiative): People with internal Agency will say/do “I have within me the will to initiate action and follow through my plan with my own efforts.” Instead of “I rely almost exclusively on the authority of others to direct me / my actions”. This capability refers to where we find the authority to initiative or actions, and this could be internal or external.

Locus of Control (Accountability): People with an internal locus of control will say/do “I am accountable for the outcomes of my actions, and what happens to me”. Instead of “I see my actions determined by others”. This capability refers to the degree to which we experience and exercise control over our lives.

Scope of Considering (System Thinking): People with a developed Scope of Considering will say/do “I consider the effects of my actions on other peers, teams and/or Vizzuality”. Instead of “When making decisions about my work/growth, I just think of myself”. This capability relates to what we take into account in our actions, especially in relation to other people, groups, and communities.