Sociocracy 3.

0 Handbook (beta)

Bernhard Bockelbrink and James Priest

September 14, 2016

i
Contents

Contents iii

I Introduction 2

1 What is Sociocracy 3.0? 3

2 A Brief History of Sociocracy from 1851 to Today 4

3 Models of Management 6

4 The S3 Movement 7

5 Why Sociocracy 3.0 8

5.1 Design Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.2 The Seven Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

6 Patterns 13

II The Patterns 15

7 Making And Evolving Agreements 16

7.1 Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.2 Those Aected Decide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.3 Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.4 Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7.5 Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.6 Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.7 Consent Decision Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.8 Resolve Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
7.9 Proposal Forming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.10 Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.11 Evaluate Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.12 Intended Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.13 Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.14 Evaluation Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.15 Qualifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

iii
CONTENTS iv

8 Governance 37
8.1 Governance Backlog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.2 Governance Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.3 Navigating via tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

9 Eective Meetings 42
9.1 Rounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
9.2 Artful Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
9.3 Meeting Facilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
9.4 Meeting Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
9.5 S3 Facilitator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
9.6 Logbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
9.7 Logbook Keeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
9.8 Meeting Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

10 Coordinating Work 52
10.1 Prioritized Backlog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
10.2 Visualize Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
10.3 Pull-System For Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
10.4 Daily Standup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
10.5 Retrospective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
10.6 Planning And Review Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
10.7 Coordination Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
10.8 Coordinator Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

11 Building Organizations 65
11.1 Align Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
11.2 Organize In Nested Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
11.3 Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
11.4 Open Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

12 People and Roles 70

12.1 People, Functions and Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
12.2 Role Life-Cycle and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
12.3 Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
12.4 Role Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
12.5 Role Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
12.6 Eectiveness Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
12.7 Development Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
12.8 Support Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

13 Organizational Structure 80
13.1 Structural Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
13.2 Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
13.3 Double Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
13.4 Delegate Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
13.5 Coordination Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
13.6 Service Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
13.7 Nested Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
CONTENTS v

13.8 Helping Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

13.9 Double-Linked Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
13.10 Peach Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
13.11 Backbone Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
13.12 Fractal Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

14 Alignment 92
14.1 Adopt S3 Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
14.2 Agree On Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
14.3 Transparent Salary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
14.4 Contracting And Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
14.5 Bylaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

15 Bringing In S3 Patterns 99
15.1 Pull-System For Organizational Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
15.2 Adapt Patterns To Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
15.3 Driver Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
15.4 Continuous Improvement Of Work Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
15.5 Open S3 Adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
15.6 Be The Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

III Appendix 110

16 Changelog 111

17 About the Authors 112

CONTENTS 1

Note: This beta version of the Sociocracy 3.0 handbook is maintained by Bernhard
Bockelbrink. Revised pattern descriptions will be added as they are finished.
The latest version of this handbook is available at http://evolving-collaboration.com/
sociocracy-30
This document is also available as a website at http://s3-patterns.evolvingcollaboration.com

evolving collaboration website and blog: http://evolving-collaboration.com

Im curious for your feedback and comments: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Parts of the this document are copied or adapted from A brief Introduction to Sociocracy
3.0 by Bernhard Bockelbrink and James Priest, and from The Sociocracy 3.0 Handbook
by Bernhard Bockelbrink and James Priest.
 Part I

Introduction

2
Chapter 1

What is Sociocracy 3.0?

Sociocracy 3.0 (also known as S3) is a framework of patterns for collaboration in

organizations that wish to grow more eective, agile and resilient.
It be applied in organizations of any size, from small start-ups to large international
networks and nationwide, multi-agency collaboration.
S3 contains patterns ready to use for many dierent aspects of collaboration, including
patterns that enable organizations to discover and develop new patterns according to their
needs.
The patterns in S3 form a pattern language, i.e. while each pattern can be applied
independently, patterns mutually reinforce each other, because they are all based on the
same set of principles (see the Seven Principles at the end of the introduction).
S3 patterns facilitate positive transformation for individuals, teams and whole organiza-
tions by enabling people to..:

. . . dynamically steer and evolve their organizations.

. . . commit to agreements and account for the consequences
. . . learn, transform and grow
. . . incrementally process available information into continuous improvement of
products, processes and skills*.
. . . make the best use of the skills already present
. . . grow flexible organizational structures in support of eective flow of information.
. . . take an open, iterative approach to adoption that meets organizations where
they are and enables them to move forward at their own pace.
. . . draw on the collective intelligence of the group.
. . . develop creative strategies that are good enough for now and safe enough
to try.

The focus of this handbook is mostly on S3 in the context of organizations. The patterns
themselves are valuable to any group of people who wish to collaborate eectively, including
communities, municipalities, families, and even one-to-one relationships.

3
Chapter 2

A Brief History of Sociocracy from 1851

to Today

Whats in a word?

socio- from Latin socius - companion, friend

-cracy from Ancient Greek krtos - power, rule
dierent to the rule of the demos (i.e. the general mass of people with voting privileges)

Figure 2.1: A Brief History of Sociocracy from 1851 to Today

1851 Auguste Comte

Scientific method applied to society

4
CHAPTER 2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIOCRACY FROM 1851 TO TODAY 5

Sociocracy is the social order of the future - not yet achievable but inevitable!

1881 Lester Frank Ward

redefined the term Sociocracy to describe the rule of the people with relationships
with each other

1926 1954 - Kees Boeke

Established the first sociocracy in his residential school (based on Quaker con-
sensus principles)
Book Sociocracy: Democracy as it might be (1945)

1970s - Gerard Endenburg

Student in Kees Boekes school

Integrated principles from Engineering and Cybernetics
In his company Endenburg Electrotechniek he evolved The Sociocratic Circle-
Organization Method (later becoming The Sociocratic Method )

1978 - Sociocratisch Centrum Utrecht

created to promote The Sociocratic Method

1994 - New law in the Netherlands

Sociocratic organizations are no longer required to have a workers council

2000 - emergence of a now wide-spread grassroots movement

2007 - We the People

John Buck /Sharon Villines make Sociocracy accessible to the English-speaking

world

2014 The Sociocracy 3.0 Movement is born

Chapter 3

Models of Management

!{A Comparison of Dierent Models of Management](img/s3-context/models-of-management-

plain.png)

6
Chapter 4

The S3 Movement

The S3 Movement is a distributed network consultants and trainers from a variety

of fields, who. . .

. . . dedicate their time to developing and evolving S3 to make it available and ap-
plicable to as many organizations as possible.
. . . provide resources under a Creative Commons Free Culture License to learn,
practice and teach Sociocracy 3.0.
. . . share a deep appreciation for the transformational potential of S3 to help organi-
zations and their members thrive.

7
Chapter 5

Why Sociocracy 3.0

Respect to the lineage of Sociocracy, and a step forward:

an approach towards organizational change that meets organizations where they are
integrated with lean and agile thinking
new ways to evolve organizational structure
patterns for all aspects of collaboration, not just for governance

5.1 Design Goals

Open: Principle-based and modular patterns make it easy to choose and adapt according
to context

do with it what you want

take just what you need
remix, extend and adapt it as you like

Free: Un-centralized distribution and a Commons license eliminates barriers to entry:

free and accessible resources

no hidden fees
no certifications
no small print

Eective: Principles and patterns have been tried and tested in many organizations,
often for decades.

need-driven
value-driven

8
CHAPTER 5. WHY SOCIOCRACY 3.0 9

Figure 5.1: Variants of Sociocracy

CHAPTER 5. WHY SOCIOCRACY 3.0 10

Figure 5.2: Design Goals Behind S3

CHAPTER 5. WHY SOCIOCRACY 3.0 11

customer/user focus

Actionable: Theres something any organization can use right now, regardless of their
unique context. S3 contains lots of ideas anyone can try out within their area of influence.

patterns for individuals

patterns for groups
patterns for organizations

Lightweight: Just the essentials: common-sense practices, bare-bone processes:

free of stu that gets in the way

no busywork or unnecessary bureaucracy

5.2 The Seven Principles

S3 is built on seven core principles, which can also be considered as values that shape or-
ganizational culture. Understanding these principles is helpful for adopting and paramount
to adapting S3 patterns.
Practicing S3 helps people appreciate the essential value of the Seven Principles, both to
individuals and organizations
The Principle of Eectiveness: Devote time only to what brings you closer towards
achieving your objectives.
Avoid waste, remove impediments and look for solutions which are good enough for now,
safe enough to try.
The Principle of Consent: Do things only in the absence of reasons why doing so
would stand in the way of (more) eectively meeting shared objectives.
When dealing with complexity, group wisdom exceeds individual abilities. Deliberately
seeking out objections invites collective intelligence to improve an agreement and helps
identify misunderstanding early. This fosters support and accountability for agreements
made.
The Principle of Empiricism: Test all assumptions about an organization and its
interactions through experiments, continuous revision and falsification.
In any complex adaptive system, such as a group or an organization, all knowledge about
the system and its interactions is tentative, and highly dependent on context. Making use
of experiences gained from probing and observing the system creates a learning organization
which is eective and resilient to change.
Empiricism is the basis of the scientific method and the combined application of S3s
patterns provides a direct way to apply the scientific method in an organization.
The Principle of Continuous Improvement: Respond to change in small increments,
by building on and transforming what is already there, to reduce risk and resistance, and to
accommodate steady empirical learning.
Most of the time evolution is more eective and more sustainable than revolution. Con-
tinuous improvement applies to everything, e.g. strategies, guidelines, products, skills,
processes, values and tools.
The Principle of Equivalence: People aected by decisions can influence and change
them on the basis of reason to do so.
CHAPTER 5. WHY SOCIOCRACY 3.0 12

Figure 5.3: The Seven Core Principles of Sociocracy 3.0

Position, rank, function and role have no special influence in decision making.
The Principle of Transparency: Make all information accessible to anyone in an
organization. Confidentiality requires consent.
All relevant information is kept up-to-date, and historical information is archived for
reference.
The Principle of Accountability: Respond when something is needed and be account-
able for doing what you agreed to.
The principle of accountability applies to groups, organizations and individuals, and pro-
motes a shift from being held to account, and towards a culture of self-accountability.
It implies both making commitments and managing expectations in any relationship:
entering agreements, doing what we agree to and to answer for when we dont.
Chapter 6

Patterns

A pattern is a template for successfully navigating a specific context.

S3 patterns are discovered through observing many organizations as they solve problems,
innovate, and respond to opportunities. Patterns may need to be adapted and evolved to
suit diering contexts and needs.

13
CHAPTER 6. PATTERNS 14

Figure 6.1: S3s 65 patterns are organized in 9 groups.

 Part II

The Patterns

15
Chapter 7

Making And Evolving Agreements

The way we make, keep and evolve agreements largely determine both the eectiveness of
collaboration and the happiness of an organizations members.
S3 contains patterns to cover you from identifying the motive for your actions and agree-
ments (Driver), to co-creation of and commitment to an agreement (Proposal Forming and
Consent Decision Making), to evaluating and evolving agreements (e.g. Evaluation Criteria,
Intended Outcome, Deliverables).
...

7.1 Agreements
An agreement is an agreed upon guideline, pattern, process or protocol designed to guide
the flow of value.

agreements are created in order to respond to drivers

agreements are the accountability of the circle that created them
each agreement includes evaluation criteria and is subject to regular review

Template for Agreements

7.2 Those Aected Decide
To make decisions with the maximum amount of information on the subject, involve every-
one who is aected by the decision.
For large groups, facilitate a process in several stages and create smaller groups who select
delegates.
This also applies to review and evolution of decisions.

7.3 Driver
The driver is the reason and the motivation for action in a specific situation: the needs
a team or organization identifies and chooses to address, and the conditions relevant to
understanding these needs.

16
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 17

Figure 7.1: Evolution of Agreements and the Drivers they Respond to

Figure 7.2: A Simple Template for Documenting Agreements

CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 18

A driver can apply to an individual, or describe collective motivation for a group.

Developing shared understanding of drivers fosters alignment towards the motive in-
stead of towards our assumptions about the future. The response to a driver always involves
the adaptation of an existing agreement, or creation of a new one, including:

changing the plan: adding a task or project

adaptation or creation of a role
creation of a new circle

However, sometimes we may decide against responding to a driver, because there is more
important things to tend to.

Needs and Conditions

A need is the lack of something that is necessary (required?) or important
Needs are identified when analyzing a situations, and may related to the organization
itself, its members, stakeholders, customers or the environment. Needs can be objective
(physical) or subjective (psychological), and may be controversial on a social level. An
organizations values may help resolving controversies
Some examples for needs, from more abstract needs to personal needs:

revenue, profit, shareholder value, capital

customer value
autonomy, mastery, purpose
connection, collaboration, recognition
sustenance, happiness

Each need emerges through one or several conditions. In order to understand a driver,
we need to identify relevant and important conditions for each need, and describe them,
usually as facts or observations.
Over time, we will develop better understanding of a driver, and, as the needs and con-
ditions change, update the drivers description.
We review a review whenever we review a strategies or agreements which respond to that
driver. In a driver review we discover new or changed needs and conditions, sometimes the
driver no longer falls into our domain, or is no longer relevant.

Drivers and Lean Thinking

Value and Waste
Lean Thinking is centered around the ideas of value and waste, both can easily be defined
in relation to a driver:

value is the importance, worth or usefulness of something for responding to a driver.

waste is anything not necessary (or essential) for - or standing in the way of - eective
response to a driver.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 19

In this context, value is not an inherent property as it only exists in relation to a driver.
This is why value is not necessarily expressed in currency or time, but it often can be
quantified by identifying metrics related to the needs or conditions contained in a driver.
Adopting the concept of value and waste makes many tools and ideas from lean pro-
duction and lean software development available to support organizations running on
Sociocracy 3.0:

value stream mapping

various strategies for eliminating waste
the Kanban Method

Waste and Continuous Improvement

Figure 7.3: Identifying Waste

Waste exist in many dierent forms and on dierent levels of abstraction, e.g. in tasks,
agreements, work processes, organizational structure or mental models. Waste makes itself
known as tensions, learning learning to identify waste is a long journey, but along the way
we also discover wisdom that helps us evolve our understanding of our drivers.
Establishing a process for ongoing elimination of waste enables the natural evolution
of an organization towards greater eectiveness, optimizing the flow of value through an
organization. As a side eect, the organization will so naturally adapt to changes in the
environment.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 20

7.4 Circle
A circle is a semi-autonomous, self-organizing and self-governing group of people collabo-
rating to respond to a driver.
A circle is the basic unit of collaboration in an organization: a group of people gathered
around a driver (permanently or temporarily). A circle brings together dierent perspectives
and skills, has no hierarchy when it comes to decision making, and is accountable for its
own development.

Figure 7.4: A Circle Gathered Around a Driver

semi-autonomous:

each circle has a unique driver and can create value independently

self-organizing:

independent in organizing day-to-day-work

self-governing:

independent in creating strategy and agreements in response to the circles driver.

CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 21

7.5 Objections
An objection is a reason why doing what is proposed stands in the way of (more) eective
response to an existing driver.
In sociocracy we deliberately seek objections as they reveal wisdom that can be used to
improve proposals and agreements.
Objections. . .

. . . are gifts
. . . reveal wisdom seeking expression into the consciousness of a circle
. . . reveal opportunities or impediments
. . . emerge through individuals and belong to the whole circle
we love objections in sociocracy

Questions That Help to Validate Objections

Does the objection relate to this specific proposal or agreement?
Does this objection reveal how a (proposed or existing) agreement. . .

. . . jeopardizes response to a driver?

. . . is in conflict with the organizations values?
. . . prevents or diminishes someones contribution to responding to a driver?
. . . can be improved significantly?

7.6 Concerns. . .
. . . are not objections
. . . dont stop us from making agreements
. . . often contain wisdom
. . . can be recorded in the logbook

. . . to further evolve agreements

. . . to set evaluation criteria (including review date)

7.7 Consent Decision Making

At a Glance: Consent and Consent Decision Making
Consent is the absence of objections

everyone aected by a decision can live with it

consent is not consensus with unanimity
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 22

Consent is used to make and evolve all agreements in a circle

An objection is an argued and paramount reason why a proposal or agreement should
not be implemented
Objections stop proposals becoming agreements
Withholding objections could harm the aims of a group or organization
Being able to raise objections at any time means that proposals only need to be good
enough for now, safe enough to try
Every agreement has a review date

Consent Decision Making. . .

is a facilitated decision making process

deliberately harvests reasoned objections in order to integrate the wisdom they contain
in proposals or existing agreements
helps balance equivalence and eectiveness
experienced groups can move quickly through the stages of Consent Decision Making

Consent
The minimal definition of consent in this context is the absence of argued and paramount
objections from those aected by a decision. The aim here is to quickly arrive at
decisions that are good enough for now, they dont need to be perfect.
When a group operates on consent, withholding an objection will do great harm to the
group, it is a willful act of violence against the group.
The argument about an objection needs to be made concerning the aims or shared goals
of the group: Why would implementing a proposal prevent us from fulfilling our aims, or
prevent somebody in the group from contributing towards those aims?
A paramount objection is so important we cannot let it go, something I could live with
(at least for a while) is often not important enough to block a proposal, in some cases we
could consent with a concern and make a note to review our decision at a certain date
to see if the concern still stands, we would then amend or even revert the decision.
As a rule of thumb, objections are raised when something is not good enough for now and
safe enough to try, i.e. when one of the people aected cannot live with a decision.
When new wisdom emerges, consent can be withdrawn at any time, usually by bringing
a decision again on the agenda of a Governance Meeting (section 8.2).

Benefits
Consent is the base for collaboration towards a shared goal. We cannot force people to
contribute their best idea, we need to invite their contribution. Therefore consent should
be the underlying principle for all our interactions in organizations.
When people share their argued and paramount objections to a proposal, the group
harvests the emergent wisdom seeking expression into the consciousness of the group and
integrates that wisdom into their decisions.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 23

Through this process, groups are often able to create solutions that are not merely ac-
ceptable to everyone1 , but the expression of a synergy of all the diverse perspectives in the
group.
Establishing consent is a fairly quick and painless exercise for a group that is experienced
with a good decision making process such as the [Decider and Resolution Protocols][] or
Consent Decision Making (section 7.7)

Considerations
You can only establish working with consent with matters that lie in your circle of influence
you organization.
Imagine a team lead, who would be able to delegate some parts of their authorities (or
even everything), to the group. For this to work, the team lead themselves would have to be
part of the consenting group, so they can raise objections when they feel a decision would
be endanger their position in the company, as this would prevent them from contributing
to the group or even take away the right for consent decisions from the group.
You need to be very clear2 what is going to be decided with consent, and what is not, to
avoid discussion and discord later, when you should be making decisions.
It is possible to establish consent without a formal process, but a following a facili-
tated process helps a lot with learning to navigate the challenges of consent. Experienced
groups can move quickly through the stages of Consent Decision Making. For consenting to
small decisions, teams often use the decider/resolution protocols or a simple consent round
(Rounds (section 9.1)), for more important decisions, or those with long-lasting eects,
Consent Decision Making brings a lot of benefits.

Other Applications
The principle of consent can be applied with any decision or agreement, including, but
not limited to Proposal Forming (section 7.9), processing agenda items in the Governance
Meeting (section 8.2), evaluating implemented agreements, the creation of [Roles][], selection
of individuals to a role, or eectiveness reviews.

The Consent Decision Making Format

What is it?
Consent Decision Making (or CDM) is a facilitated decision making format that allows
to eectively capture emergent wisdom from the group and integrate it into synergistic
solutions.
The aim of CDM is to quickly arrive at a decision that is good enough for everyone in
the group, e.g. everyone can live with this decision. This is achieved by following a simple
facilitated process and mindful participation of the group.

Why use it?

A good decision making process is essential for eective collaboration and continuous im-
provement of a group.
1 i.e. a compromise
2 as in write it down for all to see
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 24

Consent Decision Making is a streamlined process that includes all the necessary steps
for the group to attune to a proposal and quickly arrive at a decision that is good enough
for the now and save enough to try.
The process is designed in a way that both the facilitator and the group will quickly
become experts in Consent Decision Making, being able to balance equivalence of individuals
and the eectiveness of the group so they can eortlessly navigate a Governance Meeting
(section 8.2) with a large agenda in a short amount of time.

How to implement it?

To use Consent Decision Making with a group you need

one proposal
one owner for that proposal who can answer questions about the proposal
one facilitator

It is helpful to have a driver for the circle (or team) to validate objections against, without
a driver you need to resort the products to create, services to provide or any other aims,
goals or objectives the teams might have.
With a new group, the facilitator first explains the process to the group. The CDM cheat
sheet in the appendix may come in handy the first few times you do this.
It is important for the group to know that there will be no discussion and the facilitator
will invite everyone to speak when it is their turn. The facilitator reminds the group that
goal is a good-enough decision everyone can live with, not a perfect solution .

Phase 1: Present the Proposal The facilitator has the group gather in a circle and
asks the owner of the proposal to briefly present the proposal.
For the following steps the facilitator uses Rounds (section 9.1), i.e. they pick a random
member of the group to speak first and then go around the circle clockwise or counterclock-
wise until everyone has spoken. If the speaker is interrupted or the group starts a discussion,
the facilitator gently reminds them of the process.

Phase 2: Clarifying Questions Next is a round of clarifying questions, everyone

may ask the owner of the proposal questions to understand the proposal. If the facilitator
detects a question that is aimed to question the proposal, they remind the group of the
purpose of this round: understanding the proposal.

Phase 3: Brief Response When the group has no more questions, the facilitator invites
everyone to share a quick reaction about the proposal, usually only a few words or one
sentence.

Phase 4: Harvest Objections In the following round the facilitator asks everyone for
objections, participants may answer with No objection, I have a concerns or I have an
objection. In order to maintain equivalence in the group, the objections themselves shared
in the next round.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 25

Figure 7.5: The Phases of Consent Decicsion Making

CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 26

Phase 5: Integrate Wisdom If theres objections, now is the time to hear them. The
facilitator makes sure the each objection is argued and paramount before summarizing it
on a whiteboard or flip chart.
After all the objections have been heard, the facilitator helps processing them to integrate
the emergent wisdom into the decision. (see [Resolve Objection][])
If the proposal has been amended on the spot, the facilitator determines at which step to
continue with the Consent Decision Making Process: presentation of the proposal, clarifying
questions, quick reactions, or consent round.
If the proposal has been deferred, the group moves on to the next item on the agenda.

Phase 6: Review Date and Celebrate If theres no (more) objections, the group
agrees on a review date for the decision, taking into account the concerns, and then records
the decision, review date and concerns so they can later refer to it.
Now is the time to celebrate the decision and then move on to the next item on the
agenda.

Related Patterns
[Governance Meetings][] helps a group with being more relaxed with decisions, because the
participants know they can refine and adapt a decision in the next iteration.
Evaluate Agreements (section 7.11) also helps with faster decisions, because any decision
will automatically appear on the agenda of the Governance Meeting. For controversial topics
setting a review date in the near future allows participants with concerns about the decision
to view it as a short experiment that is contained safely in a time-box.

7.8 Resolve Objections

What is it?
Objections in a consent round indicate emergent wisdom that seeks expression into the
consciousness of the group.
Theres a range of options how to address these objections by either processing them into
amendments of a proposal or identifying the context where the decision in question can be
made eectively.

Why use it?

It is important a group sees objections as a potential for growth and improvement. To that
end the group needs ways to quickly harvest the value in objections and then move on.

How to implement it?

Theres various options for procession objections, usually the facilitator will select the one
that looks most promising in the situation at hand.

Facilitator amends the Proposal

The facilitator amends the proposal and leads another consent round.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 27

Those with objections suggest amendments

The participant(s) who had objections make suggestions how to amend the proposal.

Suggestion-Round
The facilitator leads a round on the question How might we you resolve this objection?

Proposal Owner amends the Proposal

The owner of the proposal will revise the proposal. They can attempt to do that on the spot,
with the facilitator leading another consent round, or later, and bring the revised proposal
to the next Governance Meeting.

Revise in a small group

The group consents to a smaller group to revise the proposal.

Delegate to another group

The decision will be delegated to another group in the organization that is more qualified
to make that decision, maybe theres even a conflict resolution group for these matters.

Delegate to an individual
The group elects one person to take that decision on behalf of the group.

Free discussion
Successful implementation largely depends on the level to Artful Participation (section 9.2)
in the group.

Other options
If the group or the facilitator see any other way to move forward, they should take it3 .

Related Patterns
[Facilitation][], [Elections][], Consent Decision Making (section 7.7), Development Plan (sec-
tion 12.7), Proposal Forming (section 7.9)

7.9 Proposal Forming

Proposal Forming is a facilitated meeting format designed to tap the collective intelligence
of a group. It fosters accountability and a sense of ownership by involving participants in
co-creating a proposal for an agreement.
This proposal creation process is similar to the Design Thinking Process, with divergent
phases to first bring clarity about the problem domain and then explore the solution domain,
followed by a converging phase where the several individual pieces of solutions are integrated
3 and contact me so I may add it here
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 28

into a workable proposal that can be consented to by the group. Its suited for issues of small
to medium-sized complexity. For a big issue, proposal forming can be used to co-create a
strategy for approaching them, e.g. designing a special workshop, or breaking it down into
smaller parts, and process them individually.
Proposal Forming happens in two stages: picture forming and proposal creation.

Figure 7.6: Picture Forming and Proposal Shaping

Picture Forming
Picture forming is done with the whole group and requires a facilitator.

Present the Issue

Define the Problem Collect all considerations for a possible solution: all elements and
dimensions of the problem, questions that would need to be answered, and any criteria a
successful solution would need to fulfill.
Remain in the problem space to see the issue from all angles, do not propose solutions
yet, as they would not only be incomplete at this stage, but also limit your abilities to arrive
at a shared understanding of the complete picture.
An elegant way of collecting considerations is in the form of generative questions, e.g.
how can we make sure we stay within budget? instead of budget (!).

Consent to the description as being complete The facilitator leads a consent round,
any objections are integrated into the list of considerations.

Proposal Shaping
Collect Proposal Ideas With all considerations visible to the group the facilitator leads
several rounds to generate proposal ideas (How might we resolve that issue? ). Instead of
judging or evaluating ideas expressed by others, participants simply add new suggestions
that build on previous ones.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 29

For more complex issues its good practice for participants to write their ideas on sticky
notes, so that the facilitator can already organize and group ideas.
The facilitator needs to take into account that often it may take a few rounds for ideas
to flow freely.
When the group runs dry of ideas, the facilitator may point out the individual consider-
ations in turn and ask the group if they think theres enough ideas around each one.

Create Proposal(s) From Ideas This is most eectively completed by a small group of
tuners (24 participants), who mostly maintain a neutral attitude when integrating ideas
into manageable and complete proposals, creatively bridging any gaps they might encounter.
To prepare this phase, the facilitator asks the group who will tune the proposal, and helps
the tuners schedule their tuning session.
The finished proposal(s) are then shared with all members of the group.

Consent to Completeness of Proposals The whole group consents to the completeness

of the proposal, either synchronously in a consent round or individually (e.g. via email). If
the proposals are incomplete, the group gathers again to generate new ideas for proposals.
If the proposals are complete, the whole group needs to consent to it, for that they usually
go on the agenda in the Governance Meeting (section 8.2) and is processed using Consent
Decision Making (section 7.7).

7.10 Strategy
A strategy is the generic approach we choose to address a problem or a driver.
When facing a complex problem or driver, we usually dont know what will be the best way
of responding to it. In order to reduce uncertainty, we first decide which general approach
- our strategy - sounds most convincing.
A strategy is implemented through breaking it down into a series of decisions (or agree-
ments) supporting the strategy. Along the way we need to discover both how to eectively
execute on the strategy and the strategys overall eectiveness.
In this context, all decisions we make are experiments, and how we slice our experiments,
and in which order we run them aects how fast we learn - generally we would favor small
experiments over large ones, and start with those which promise to reduce uncertainty or
risk the most.
We can specifically design experiments so they support learning about creating a better
experiment next time, and help us decide whether or not to persevere with the strategy.
As soon as we discover that the strategy is not eective or successful, we need to pivot,
i.e. use what we learned from our experiments to adjust the strategy or create a new one.

7.11 Evaluate Agreements

A pattern for ensuring agreements remain eective.
Motivation for this pattern: To keep an organizations or teams body of agreements
eective in the face of emerging knowledge and changes in context, each agreement needs
to be periodically reviewed and updated.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 30

Agreements4 guide action and behavior. They are created as a response to a specific
situation that aects an organization or team.
Team and organization wide agreements are kept up-to-date with what is happening,
what is learned, and how expectations compare to actual outcomes.

Indicators for this pattern

Conditions:

existing agreements dont make sense any more (out of date, slow, rigid, ineective)
lack of clarity about why things are done in certain ways and what outcomes an
agreement is meant to have
lack of opportunities taken to integrate new learning and improve

Needs:

adapting to changes in the inner and outer environment of the organization

improve and evolve agreements previously made
integrate learning from new experiences

The Details
Changes in context can make an agreement less eective or even obsolete. Putting an
agreement into action often reveals new ways an agreement can be improved.
Organizations or teams periodically evaluate their agreements, usually in periodical meet-
ings, or even a dedicated workshop to review a complex agreement (e.g. an organizations
values or strategy).
Evaluating agreements has four basic steps:

1. preparation
2. hear reports (optional)
3. the actual review
4. addressing any consequences

Step 1 - Preparation
Preparing for the review helps to keep it brief and eective.
Inform everyone aected of the upcoming review and make sure they have access to
documents describing the agreement and its iterations, and if applicable, data relating to
evaluation criteria and metrics.
Ensure all documents related to the agreement are up to date, and reports are prepared
(see next step).
4 in some organizations these agreements are referred to as a policy).
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 31

Figure 7.7: Evaluating an Agreement

Step 2 - Hear Reports

For more complex agreements its useful to have a temporary owner who is familiar with the
agreement and its eects. They review the evaluation criteria and other data and prepare
a short report.
In some cases it may require several people to prepare and present a report.
The report is presented immediately before the actual review.

Step 3 - The Review

The review itself is often split in two parts:

review of the motive for the agreement

review of the agreement itself
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 32

Review the motive In order to prime the group about the context, its a good idea to
first review the motive for creating the agreement, i.e. needs or requirements the agreement
should address, and the conditions or context in which the needs or requirements were
identified.
If an agreement does not contain a description of the motive, this may be a good time to
collaborate on describing it.
Helpful questions to review the motive include:

Is the description of the motive still accurate, or does it need to change? (e.g. because
we changed the conditions, learned something, or discovered something else is needed)
Is this situation still relevant for the organization or this team?

Sometimes the review ends here, because:

the authority to respond to the situation falls to someone else: Pass it to relevant
team or individual
the motive for agreement no longer exists or ceased to be relevant: Close the agreement

In both cases, address any consequences (Step 4).

Review the agreement Review the agreement itself in its latest form by asking these
questions:
Considering any reports heard, the updated understanding of conditions and needs and
what is known today:

Is the agreement still good enough for now and safe enough to try?
Do you see any reason why NOT to continue with this agreement in its current form?
Are there any concerns about this agreement?

Depending on the answers to these questions there are several possible outcomes:

1. keep the agreement without change

2. use whats learned to update the agreement on the spot, or, for more substantial
changes, schedule a separate session for the update
3. drop the agreement

In all cases, consider recording answers and concerns for future evaluations, and agree
on a next review date.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 33

Step 4 - Addressing any consequences

After the review, ensure consequences of any decisions are dealt with.
This may include:

assigning tasks
recording the latest version of the agreement
updating other agreements aected by decisions made
sharing results with those aected by the decision
scheduling further pending decisions if required

Considerations for an eective review process

Use the idea of falsification instead of merely focusing on what would make an agreement
a success. Describe what would need to happen to consider that it failed. This information
can be used to describe the intended outcome, and to define criteria for evaluation.
Adjust the review cadence according to the stability of the agreement.
Consider having an early review when people aected by the agreement raise concerns or
explain reasons why continuing without change may not be eective, or how changing the
agreement could improve eectiveness.

Related patterns
Agreements are evaluated in Governance Meetings by the Circle that created them.
The description of an agreement can include the Driver it responds to, the Agreement
itself, any Intended Outcomes and Evaluation Criteria.
In Step 2 people review the Driver of an agreement.
In Step 4 Consent Decision Making can be used to test the agreement.
If the circle decides a new agreement is needed, its members might use Proposal Forming
to come up with one.

7.12 Intended Outcome

The Intended Outcome is a brief description of what we expect to happen as the result of
an agreement or strategy. Its a good idea to also include specific Evaluation Criteria to
enable an eective review of the strategy or agreement.

7.13 Deliverables
A deliverable is something which is provided as a result of an agreement, usually framed
as a product or a service. Deliverables can be defined for organizational strategy, circle
strategy, development plans, role descriptions, or any other agreement.
Since a deliverable is part of an agreement, make sure the amount of detail is reasonable
- sucient to allow for shared understanding, but not too much. Consider the context in
which and by whom this description will be referred to. Think about the significance of the
deliverable, and how long this description needs to be referred to.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 34

For example simple task which will be implemented in the next week needs less written
detail than continuously reviewing updates for a large product for compliance with several
complicated national standards.
Reference other documents when helpful or necessary, e.g. contracts, previous projects,
specifications, drafts, or other agreements.

7.14 Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation criteria help you understand whether or not an agreement has the desired eect.
Make them simple and unambiguous so you avoid discussing opinions when reviewing
your agreements: Go for the number of items sent back from the customer for re-work
should have dropped from 10 per week to 5 or less by January 10th instead of Quality is
improved..
One very eective way of defining Evaluation Criteria is as actionable metrics, i.e. a set
of measurements which you can continuously refer to to see whether youre on the right
track. Actionable metrics make it easy to spot deviations from your intended outcome, and
to take action accordingly. Consider this example: you have a steady trickle of new users
for your website, and you want to increase popularity of your site. If you track number of
website users per day, the graph will rise even without your new agreements being eective.
However, tracking new users per day will give you a much clearer picture, if this metric is
increasing, you know youre on the right track, and if its shrinking, you know that you need
to get together and take action.

7.15 Qualifying Drivers

Motive: Consider why, how and when to respond to a stimulus, instead of defaulting to
action.
Only act on important drivers, and take drivers to the appropriate domain (role or
circle). Both the individual sensing tension and the domain is accountable for making a
conscious choice whether or not to act on the driver.

depending on sensitivity, individuals might discover many dierent drivers

some of the drivers we identify are not in our domain
some drivers are more important than others
discussing every driver with the circle may be not eective
we need to make a conscious choice which drivers respond to, where to respond to
them, and whether to discuss in the circle in the first place

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to
choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. (Viktor
E. Frankl)

The individual sensing a tension is accountable for understanding the driver and making
a decision on how to proceed, whether do drop it or refer the driver to a domain (a circle
or a role). In that domain, we again make a decision whether or not to act on the driver.
CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 35

Figure 7.8: Intended Outcome and Evaluation Criteria

CHAPTER 7. MAKING AND EVOLVING AGREEMENTS 36

Figure 7.9: Qualifying Drivers: Individual Process and Domain Process

Individual Process
understand and describe driver

whats happening and whats needed. relate each need to the conditions relevant
for its existence

Can you identify the domain (circle or role) to address this driver?

No: decide where to refer the driver to, or drop it.

Yes: refer driver to circle or role (e.g. add it to Governance Backlog)

Circle or Role Process

understand the driver

refine and consent to driver description

Would responding to driver improve flow of value in this domain?
Yes: Is it important to act on this now?
Yes: decide what to do, and do it.
No: Drop it, put it in backlog, or schedule it for review?
No: Might responding to driver improve flow of value in another domain?
Yes: refer driver to that domain
No: Drop it
Chapter 8

Governance

Governance is the process of creating and evolving agreements, expectations and domains
in response to drivers.

8.1 Governance Backlog

The Governance Backlog is the place where agenda items for the Navigation meeting are
collected and prioritized. It is accessible for everyone in the circle, and members can high-
light items to be included in the next Navigation Meeting. The final agenda is agreed upon
at the beginning of the meeting.
The backlog can easily be maintained on a wall with sticky notes, or in digital tools like
Google Sheets1 , Trello2 , task managers for teams or agile backlog apps.

8.2 Governance Meeting

What Is It?
A governance meeting is a (usually weekly or bi-weekly) meeting where the whole team
gathers to make and review policy decisions that guide their operations.
A governance meeting happens in regular intervals or on demand, and usually is struc-
tured in a way that allows for eective processing of administrative concerns and agenda
items.
A good governance meeting is time-boxed to 60 minutes, contains little or no discussion
and ends with an evaluation of the meeting itself. A group should aim for processing an
agenda item in 5 minutes or less, which can be achieved through a combination of good
preparation, artful facilitation and Artful Participation (section 9.2).

Why use it?

Having a regular cadence of making and evolving agreements supports a circle in eective
collaboration, continuous improvement, and adapting to change.
1 http://sheets.google.com
2 http://trello.com

37
CHAPTER 8. GOVERNANCE 38

How to implement it?

The following structure has proven to be eective for governance meetings.

1. Opening round: any ritual that allows the group to attune to each other and
become present, e.g. a round of check-ins
2. Administrative Concerns: announcements, consent to minutes of the last gover-
nance meeting, accepting the agenda
3. Agenda Items: each agenda item should have an owner who can present the item
and answer questions about it
4. Closing: review of meeting Meeting Evaluation (section 9.4) and results, future
agenda items

8.3 Navigating via tension

individuals act as sensors for the organization
tensions arise whenever our perception of what is happening is in conflict with our
expectations or our values (and principles)
problems, challenges, and feelings of unease are all tensions
investigating tension leads to the discovery of drivers
to identify a possible driver behind a tension we:

describe the situation

identify the needs we associate with it

in the process, a tensions may be resolved as misconceptions

CHAPTER 8. GOVERNANCE 39

Figure 8.1: Format of a Governance Meeting

CHAPTER 8. GOVERNANCE 40

Figure 8.2: How to Navigate via Tension

CHAPTER 8. GOVERNANCE 41

Figure 8.3: Navigating Via Tension

Chapter 9

Eective Meetings

Eective meetings are a cornerstone of eective collaboration and continuous improvement.

S3 contains patterns to support you with dierent aspects of meetings, from preparation
(Logbook, Meeting Host) to the meeting itself (S3 Facilitator, Meeting Facilitation, Rounds,
Evaluate Meetings) and beyond (Logbook Keeper and Logbook).

9.1 Rounds
A group facilitation technique to maintain equivalence.

1. Pick a random person to start

begin with a dierent person each time to maintain equivalence

2. Go around the circle, give everyone the chance to speak

Theres a number of ways that experienced groups can fast track certain rounds.

9.2 Artful Participation

A commitment to developing helpful interactions and eective collaboration.
Motivation for this pattern: People wishing to collaborate eectively benefit from
identifying, understanding and developing the necessary skills to engage with each other,
and with their chosen practices, processes and all agreements they make.
Artful participation is the commitment of an individual to participate in a proactive,
coherent and elegant way in all aspects of collaboration in teams and organizations they are
a part of.

Indicators for using this pattern

Conditions:
People disengaged or not fully engaged
People unsure how to contribute
Ineective participation, despite explicit agreements * Dysfunctional communication

42
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 43

Figure 9.1: Facilitation of a Round

CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 44

Needs:
Eective collaboration
Engagement
People accountable for their agreements and actions
Helpful interactions

The Details
Being accountable is a learned skill and while making an agreement may be (relatively) easy,
keeping up with the implications is hard: many agreements require discovering necessary
skills and developing them.
Intentional commitment to agreements amplifies learning, and the more participants learn
about how to support agreements, the more they learn about the agreements themselves.
Intentional eort of participants to support each other makes stronger teams and full
engagement makes happy people, better agreements, and closer collaboration.

Elements of Artful Participation

A brief guide for what makes collaboration eective, and how to develop accountability for
agreements:
Artful participation is a individual commitment to. . .

actively keeping and following-up on all agreements made, in the best way possible,
given the circumstances
consciously balancing personal needs with those of a team and the organization as a
whole
developing the necessary skills to do so
supporting others in doing the same

Whenever the individual discovers impediments or obstacles to their contribution or to

existing agreements, which they cant resolve on their own, they bring them to the attention
of everyone involved in the agreement to resolve the problem together.
Although anyone can commit to artful participation on their own, the eect is much
greater when a full team or even an entire organization embraces artful participation to-
gether.

Artful Participation: Self-Assessment

How will I support myself and others in participating more artfully?
Where are my interactions with others not particularly helpful or eective?
Which are the agreements I find hard to keep or contribute to? What can I do to
change that?
What are skills that would support me in artful participation?
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 45

What would artful participation mean in relation to. . .

. . . my daily activities
. . . collaboration and interaction with others?
. . . the organization? . . . our clients?
. . . the wider environment?

Related Patterns
Adopt the Seven Principles provides a powerful guiding framework around artful par-
ticipation
Agree on Values supports a team align on their chosen values, which provides both
focus and guide for artful participation
Be the Change is another pattern to support an individual in bringing S3 to their
team or organization
Eectiveness Review provides feedback on ones participation in a role
Meeting Evaluation supports learning about a groups participation after a meeting
Understanding the concept of Objections helps to decide when the team needs to
evolve an agreement
Qualifying Drivers is a proactive way of understanding things before bringing them
to the team

9.3 Meeting Facilitation

When we meet, we want to develop shared understanding, exchange information, learn, and
co-create responses to the driver of the meeting. Facilitation keeps meetings and workshops
crisp, joyful and eective by

giving everyone a voice and thus enabling dierent perspectives

selecting activities to support the development of shared understanding, learning, and
solutions
supporting the group by mirroring and visualizing what is happening
helping the group navigate the agenda in the time available

As a facilitator, you would:

prepare for the meeting

prepare room and materials

design the workshop, select activities and interactions for the dierent phases of
the workshop:
opening the workshop, ground rules
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 46

understand driver/intended outcome

activities to generate insight and develop shared understanding
selecting what topics to work on
make decisions /action planning
evaluate the outcome and learn for the next workshop
closing

during the workshop

time-box workshop and each activity

document process and results in real time
navigate the workshop

after the workshop

take photographs of all the artifacts created and share with the group

9.4 Meeting Evaluation

At the end of each meeting or workshop, take the time to evaluate your interactions and
learn what can be improved.

before the closing round

reserve 5 minutes for 1 hour, and 15 minutes for a full-day workshop
record the results in the logbook
proposals for improvements are implemented by facilitator and meeting host, or added
to the governance backlog
short formats:

more of/less of/start/stop/keep

positive/negative/suggested improvements

Meeting Evaluation: Long Format

Ask everyone in a round to briefly contribute to any or all of the following topics:

eectiveness
facilitation and format
emotional tone
I liked. . . (acknowledgments and achievements)
I wish. . . (growing edges and improvements)
What if. . . (wild ideas and radical suggestions)
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 47

Figure 9.2: Evaluate the Meeting Before the Closing Round

CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 48

9.5 S3 Facilitator
The facilitator supports the circle in developing their interactions and is responsible for
making sure all meetings and workshops are facilitated and evaluated, e.g.
governance meeting
retrospectives
daily standups
planning and review or coordination meeting
Often the actual facilitation is shared between several circle members.
The facilitator should make themselves familiar with the following formats:
rounds
proposal forming
consent decision making
selections to roles
meeting evaluation
resolving objections

9.6 Logbook
A logbook is a (digital) system to store all information relevant for the running an organi-
zations or circle. The logbook is accessible to all members of an organization, information
is hidden only when there is a good reason to do so.
Suitable platforms for logbooks are Wikis, Web CMS Systems, and other web- or multi-
platform applications.
Essential requirements for a logbook system:
writing and organizing content is simple and eortless (otherwise the logbook will
soon be out of date)
it allows for linking between documents and to external services like task managers,
backlogs, task boards etc. (otherwise relevant information will not be accessible)
a simple and powerful search function
embedding and display of common file formats is possible, e.g. Images (png/jpg), pdf,
Word, Excel
Some common platforms for logbooks:
Wikis:
Dokuwiki1 : open source, hierarchical structure makes it easier to get content
organized, extensible via plugins, doesnt need a database
MediaWiki2 : open source, extensible via plugins
1 http://www.dokuwiki.org
2 http://www.mediawiki.org
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 49

Figure 9.3: The Facilitator is often Part of the Circle They Facilitate
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 50

trac3 , an open source wiki and issue tracking system for software development
projects

Web Content Management Systems

Mezzanine4 : open source, extensible via plugins

WordPress5 : open source, extensible via plugins

Other Applications:

Google Drive6 : file storage, Google Docs and Google Sheets, available as a free
service and as Google Apps for Work7 , which unites several other services, for $5
or $10 per month and user
Trello8 , an platform for organizing anything, with lots of integrations which can
be also used as a logbook. A free version is available, the paid plan is $5 per
month and user
Evernote for Business9 , a notebook-based platform with chat, and integration
with many other services. $12 per month and user.

Contents and Structure of a Logbook

Organization:

driver, strategy
organizational values
organizational structure
agreements

Circles:

driver, strategy
agreements
role definitions and role improvement plans

Personal logbooks

role descriptions
tasks
personal strategy and personal policy
3 http://trac.edgewall.org/
4 http://mezzanine.jupo.org/
5 http://wordpress.org
6 http://drive.google.com
7 http://apps.google.com/
8 http://trello.com
9 https://evernote.com/business/
CHAPTER 9. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS 51

9.7 Logbook Keeper

The logbook keeper is responsible for maintaining a circles logbook:

recording all relevant information and adding it to the logbook

all agreements, role descriptions, selections etc.

making sure minutes of meetings are recorded and approved by participants

keeping the logbook is up do date

continuously improve organization of the logbook
making the logbook and accessible to everyone in the circle (and in the wide organi-
zation as agreed)
tending to all technical aspects of logbook keeping

9.8 Meeting Host

The meeting host is accountable for proper preparation and follow-up of meetings, workshops
or other events.
The role may be assigned temporarily (i.e. for one specific event) or permanently. e.g.
for all events of one circle.

Meeting Host: Responsibilities

preparation

identify goals and deliverables

select facilitator and keeper of the minutes
prepare and distribute agenda and schedule
estimate required time
identify and invite participants
schedule the meeting/workshop
book location (and transportation if required)
set up the space, provide required materials and information

follow-up

clean up location, return keys etc.

make sure minutes are distributed and approved
Chapter 10

Coordinating Work

S3 specifically addresses self-organization through a collection of patterns for coordinating

work that go beyond the role of a coordinator or a simple operations meeting.

10.1 Prioritized Backlog

When work extends a certain complexity, we need way of identifying what to focus on now,
and what can be dealt with later, and at the same time being sure nothing slips to the
cracks.
One way to do this is through maintaining a Prioritized Backlog, a list of all the uncom-
pleted work and other matters needing to be dealt with, the most important bits on top.
Its easy to pull in new work when theres capacity: simply take the topmost item youre
confident you can work on.

Benefits
Theres multiple benefits to a prioritized backlog:

when pulling in work, we know that we need to pull from the top of the backlog, so
the choice is easy and frictionless
when we see that we are repeatedly unable to pull from the top, this is a strong
indicator of a need to reorganize work processes, development of new skills, and maybe
even a new mindset
agreeing on work items and prioritization is helpful for developing shared understand-
ing about what needs to be done and how to best approach it
prioritization enables us to optimize the value we create by working on the most
important things first
also, priorization helps reduce the cost of change by enabling just-in-time specification,
we only talk about the details of what needs to be done when were close to actually
starting work, so we can avoid discussing detail of less important or less urgent work
items which might change again before we can even begin working on it.

52
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 53

Implementation
For collocated circles a backlog can be crated with sticky notes on a wall, or with index
cards (A5 or A5 recommended) and magnets on a whiteboard. Theres also many ways of
implementing a digital backlog, from Excel or Google Spreadsheets, to generic tools like
digital whiteboards or task planning systems, to dedicated backlog tools. Its a good idea to
use the simplest tool that does the job for you. Often the minute details about work items
do not need to be tracked in the backlog, if necessary we can use a reference number or a
link to point us to another location, e.g. a Google Document, a Trello card, or in page in a
Wiki.
Things you need to track in the backlog:

a unique reference number for each work item, so you can reference the item in
other documents or systems
a title or short description of the work item
the order of work items
dependencies: other work items this item is dependent on or related to
a due date, e.g. delivery date agreed on with an external party, or a date where
the work item will begin to lose value rapidly (e.g. two weeks before christmas for a
christmas special). Many items do not have a due date.
(optional) a measure for value
(optional) a measure for investment (often an estimate of time or complexity)

Limitations
Priorization requires making tough choices, and some teams are not yet ready to make them:
if a team repeatedly considers two or more items as being of equal importance, and can
not agree on a default order for these cases, the backlog will fall short on helping the team
deliver the most valuable items first.

10.2 Visualize Work

In order to empower a circle for self-organization, we need to make transparent both the
agreed upon work process and the state of all work items currently in planning, in progress
or completed. Only if all work items are visible to all circle members, people can pull in
work when they have capacity, instead of work being pushed by a coordinator.
Collocated teams can do this with post-its on a wall, or with index cards and magnets
on a white board. Distributed teams can use an ever increasing number of apps available
for this use case , from generic tools like Google Sheets1 or digital whiteboards, to task
management systems for teams (e.g. Asana2 , Todoist3 ) or dedicated apps for task boards
1 http://sheets.google.com
2 http://asana.com
3 http://todoist.com
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 54

or kanban boards (Trello4 , Kanbanery5 , Leankit6 ). Many teams use both a digital system
and a card wall, and synchronize them once a day, commonly around the daily standup.
When visualizing work, first try to identify what dierent types of work items you have,
e.g. customer request, project tasks, reporting tasks, rework. Decide whether or not it is
necessary to distinguish between these types of work items, and how you are going to make
that visible on your board, will you use colors, or symbols, or highlights? Are there dierent
priorities, expedite items that take priority, and if so, how do you express ?

Figure 10.1: Visualize Work: a Simple Process

Then figure out what stages these work items go through, like to do, in progress,
review and done. At this stage, simply visualize what youre doing already, dont make
any changes to your process. You might end up with a very simple layout, or something
rather complicated. Implement the layout in the system you thinks makes the most sense
for you now, on a wall, or with software.
If you have any agreements guiding your workflow, e.g. which items have priority over
others, or what is necessary for an item to move forward, quality standards and the like, its
a good idea to make them visible next to your board, so you can get together and review,
discuss and update these agreements to improve the flow of items through your board.
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 55

Figure 10.2: Visualize Work: A More Complicated Process With Swim Lanes

Figure 10.3: Example for a Task Card

CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 56

Things to Track in Your System

types of work items (e.g. customer request, project tasks, reporting tasks, rework)
start date and optionally due date
priorities
stages of work (e.g. to do, in progress, review and done)
blocks
who is working on which items
agreements and expectations guiding workflow (e.g. definition of done, policy, quality
standards)
use colors, symbols, highlights etc.

10.3 Pull-System For Work

In a pull-system, people or circles pull in new work when they find they have capacity. The
opposite would be a push-system, where work items are assigned from a third party.
A pull-system will shift from optimization of capacity - which makes an organization
vulnerable to the eects of unforeseen circumstances - towards optimization for throughput,
building resilience and organizational agility.
A pull system fosters self-organization, because those who do the work make the call when
to build the fence and when to chase the cattle. Since the system is no longer optimized for
running on full capacity, people are free to use the now available slack time for investments
in infrastructure, evolution of work processes, and building new skills.

Creating a Pull-System
In order to create a pull-system, both trust and transparency are necessary to empower
everyone to be able to contribute eectively. This does not only aect those doing the
actual work, who now need access to all information they need to make the right choices
when pulling in work, but also external stakeholders or customers, who now, instead of
pushing work items, need to learn a dierent way of communicating their requirements, and
who might also need transparency about the state of work items and projects.
S3 contains many patterns to help with that, heres a selection:

Those Aected Decide to hand over responsibility for work process to the ones doing
the work
Consent Decision Making and Proposal Forming: to use all information available for
eectively creating and evolving the agreements which guide pulling in work, such as
priorities, plans, contracts etc.
4 http://trello.com
5 http://kanbanery.com
6 http://leankit.com
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 57

Visualize Work makes available the information what needs to be done and what is
the current state of work
in the Daily Standup, a team or circle can collaborate on pulling in work
a Prioritized Backlog makes the choice about which work items to pull in much easier,
as do Planning and Review Meetings

Limitations
In a low-trust environment, it will be dicult to establish a pull system, as a pull-system
requires trust, first in the ability of people to pull in work items appropriate to the context
at hand, and second in the ability and willingness of people to use slack time productively,
to the benefit of the organization. What is often overlooked is that also the people need to
build trust that a pull-system is not merely a new way for setting up competition.
In these circumstances, trust can be built through first implementing the patterns Those
Aected Decide, which brings those who used to push work together with those who now will
pull, and learn to understand each others perspective while creating agreements as peers.
This is best done in combination with Proposal Forming and Consent Decision Making.

10.4 Daily Standup

A pattern for enabling self-organization.
Motivation for this pattern: Teams need to coordinate work, identify impediments
and opportunities, and adapt processes according to changing context.
The daily standup is a short, daily meeting where a team coordinates daily work and
identifies impediments and opportunities to improve their work process.

The details
For the daily standup, the team gathers around a task board every day at the same time,
and makes decisions about how to move forward with their work items.
Its helpful to appoint a facilitator to keep the meeting on task and within time (if possible
under 15 minutes).
The facilitator facilitates quick decisions on the spot and identifies discussions and de-
cisions requiring more time, to be scheduled after the standup, or added to a backlog to
process later.
Daily standups enable teams to

make quick decisions about work using the knowledge of the whole team
rapidly identify impediments and respond as needed
accelerate learning
improve their work processes as required

There are two common patterns for daily standups, one is value focussed, the other one
is people-focused.
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 58

Value-focused standup
The value-focused standup helps a team focus on eectively collaborating on the most valu-
able work items.
In this approach, the facilitator points out the most valuable work item on the board
(often the one closest to the upper right corner of the board), and asks the team members:
How can we move this item forward?
Team members can volunteer to contribute to that work item, and then the facilitator
moves to the next item, and so on, until the circle members cannot pull in more work for
the day.
Impediments or blocked items can be discussed during or after the standup.

People-focused standup
Team members answer three questions in a round:

What did you do yesterday?

What are you going to do today?
What stands in your way?

The facilitator supports people to be brief and to the point, making a note of all im-
pediments mentioned in order to make sure they are addressed - either by scheduling brief
discussions after the standup, or by adding them to a backlog.
The people focused standup is helpful when each team member mostly works in their own
silo and tasks are not commonly shared.
Team members are constantly up to date with the state of the teams work and get the
opportunity for contributing to other peoples tasks when theres a bottleneck.
Over time this approach might translate into improvements for closer collaboration, with
a team finally adopting the value-focused standup (above).

Iterations or Continuous Flow

Teams working on products often use an iterative approach, planning work in regular inter-
vals lasting for a certain period of time (the iteration). Other teams work from a prioritized
backlog and hold planning sessions as needed. Teams delivering ongoing services often work
without explicit planning.
The daily standup can be combined with any of these approaches and can benefit all
types of work process.

Related Patterns
Coordinating work - Another way to coordinate daily activity is through assigning the
function of coordination to the Coordinator Role, Coordination Circle.
Coordination meeting for synchronizing, organizing and aligning daily workflow within
and across teams.
Organizing in Circles of semi-autonomous teams
Some content from daily standups inform the Planning and review meetings
Work items can be visualized (Visualize Work ) in a Prioritized Backlog, and can be dealt
with through a Pull System for Work.
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 59

Figure 10.4: Daily Standup and Continuous Flow

Figure 10.5: Daily Standup and Iterations

10.5 Retrospective
What is it?
A retrospective is a facilitated, short and eective meeting that allows a group to collectively
reflect on its eectiveness at regular intervals. Various retrospective patterns can be used
to generate insights and identify improvements, usually either operational tasks or agenda
items for a Governance Meeting (section 8.2).

Why use it?

Retrospectives support a team in seeing the bigger picture, in identifying more complex
types of waste, and in discovering what is important beyond what is merely urgent.
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 60

Figure 10.6: Output of a Retrospective

The facilitator creates and maintains a safe space for reflection, and selects patterns
for the retrospective dependent on context and guides the team through all phases of the
retrospective.
Short intervals between retrospectives allow for learning while the memory is still fresh,
and for the implementation of a constant stream of small changes which can be implemented
quickly and without fear.
When a group gets into the habit to reflecting on its eectiveness together they build
stronger relationships and amplify learning through exploring and integrating dierent views
on the past. Without an opportunity for collective reflection a group must rely on sugges-
tions for improvements from individual (and thus incomplete) perspectives.

How to implement it?

A retrospective is time-boxed, usually to 60 minutes, and happens in a regular cadence
(between 14 weeks).
The goal of a retrospective is reflection on the past to discover opportunities for improve-
ment.
The output of a retrospective are proposals for agreements, tensions, drivers or tasks
Questions answered in a retrospective include:

What can we learn from the last iteration of work?

Are our tools still sharp enough?
Are we still going in the right direction?
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 61

Figure 10.7: Retrospective and Continuous Flow

Figure 10.8: Retrospective and Iterations

Phases of a Retrospective Meeting

A retrospective has five distinct phases, with many dierent activities available for each
phase:

1. Set the Stage

2. Gather Data
3. Generate Insights
4. Decide What to Do
5. Close the Retrospective
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 62

The facilitator picks activities that support the team in collaborating on moving forward,
taking into account the situation the team is in, the challenges theyre facing, the system
around the team and the personalities of the team members.
Activities for each phase can be found at plans-for-retrospectives.com7

10.6 Planning And Review Meetings

When working on products or larger projects that will take weeks or even months to finish,
its often helpful to break them down into smaller parts in order to eectively manage both
work itself and expectations of stakeholders.
These parts are commonly called milestones, which usually take more than an month to
achieve, and whose duration usually extends until work is finished, or iterations, which are
fixed in duration (usually 14 weeks), unfinished items are handed over to the next iteration.
At the beginning of the milestone or iteration there is a planning meeting where the circle
decides on the timeframe and on how much work to pull in for that period. Its helpful
to timebox the meeting to just a few hours, and prepare a prioritized product or project
backlog with the topmost items already estimated by the circle.
During the planning session, value, risk and dependencies between work items are dis-
cussed, work items are estimated, and, if time allows, broken down into small tasks that
can be executed independently. For a successful milestone or iteration, circles often identify
a theme, topic or goal, and select work items accordingly.
In the review meeting at the end of the iteration or milestone, the circle inspect the results,
sometimes bringing in external stakeholders, the output of the review meeting is fed back
into the next planning meeting.

Figure 10.9: Planning and Review Meeting

7 http://www.plans-for-retrospectives.com/
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 63

10.7 Coordination Meeting

Meet on a regular basis (usually weekly) for reporting on and coordinating work.

facilitate the meeting, use rounds instead of discussions

Status Reports:

circle metrics (if any)

projects and tasks

Agenda Items:

sharing of information
add or update tasks or projects
propose new or updated agreements

if possible agenda items are compiled before the meeting (some items will come up
during the status reports)

10.8 Coordinator Role

The coordinator is accountable for coordinating a circles collaboration, and is selected
by the circle for a limited term.
Responsibilities:

project management
task assignment
stewarding delveopment of the circle
supporting circle members in

keeping agreements
personal development
developing artful participation
understanding S3 principles and patterns
CHAPTER 10. COORDINATING WORK 64

Figure 10.10: Format of the Coordination Meeting

Chapter 11

Building Organizations

Patterns for growing an organization along the principles behind S3. In the addition to the
patterns in this sections theres also two subsections: Patterns for People and Roles, and
patterns for Organizational Structure.

11.1 Align Flow

Flow of Value
flow of value is guided by agreements (explicit and implicit), and assumptions
work in progress is considered waste as it ties up resources
continuous flow of value prevents accumulation of waste

it also makes for shorter feedback loops and amplifies learning

Flow of Value and Flow of Information

in an eective organization, the flow of information and influence supports the
continuous flow of value
alignment is achieved and maintained through continuous improvement of agreements

11.2 Organize In Nested Domains

A domain is an area of influence, autonomy and accountability.
Building an organization from domains defined along organizational drivers facilitates
eective collaboration by creating enabling constraints and clear and logical boundaries for
accountablility.

Drivers Define Domains of Accountability

accountability applies to all agreements, including the organization itself, circles, and
roles
everyones primary accountability is for eective collaboration in response to drivers

65
CHAPTER 11. BUILDING ORGANIZATIONS 66

Figure 11.1: Flow of Value and Flow of Information in a Hierarchical Organization

circles are accountable their work, their body of agreements and for their own devel-
opment
everyone in an organization is accountable for upholding organizational values and
principles

11.3 Linking
Linking is the practice of one circle selecting a delegate who takes part in all important
decisions of another circle to make sure their needs are being met.

Related patterns
Double Linking (section 13.3)
Delegate Circle (section 13.4)
Service Circle (section 13.6)

11.4 Open Systems

An organization is not a closed system, it is an open network with many connections to the
outside.
CHAPTER 11. BUILDING ORGANIZATIONS 67

Figure 11.2: Nested Domains

CHAPTER 11. BUILDING ORGANIZATIONS 68

Figure 11.3: Dierent Forms of Response to a Driver Within a Domain

Keep the system open by adding connections as temporary or permanent members in

decision making and experiments:

external experts: benefit from outside perspective and knowledge

representatives of aected parties: integrate existing relationships ( [U+27A4] Those
Aected Decide)
CHAPTER 11. BUILDING ORGANIZATIONS 69

Figure 11.4: Linking two circles

Chapter 12

People and Roles

Figure 12.1: Through Roles, People can Wear Many Hats

70
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 71

12.1 People, Functions and Roles

identify functions required to respond to a driver
if a function is best addressed by a role:

define the role

select people for the role
support development of people in the role

12.2 Role Life-Cycle and Development

Figure 12.2: The Life-Cycle of a Role

Continuous improvement of the eectiveness of people in roles:

1. Conduct eectiveness review

2. Create development plan
3. Full circle consents to development plan
4. Act on the plan

Figure 12.3: Development of Individuals in Roles

CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 72

12.3 Role
roles are more flexible than positions
people can wear many hats, i.e. fill several dierent roles, often in several circles at
the same time
(s)election by consent. . .
. . . and for a limited term
peers support development in roles

Figure 12.4: With Roles, Its Easy for People to Wear Many Hats

12.4 Role Description

role descriptions can be created using proposal forming
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 73

Figure 12.5: Life-Cycle of a Role

a minimal role description contains:

driver
term
key responsibilities
preferable skills, experience and qualities
cadence of eectiveness reviews

12.5 Role Selection

What is it?
Instead of people being assigned to or volunteering for functions in an organization, we can
select them on the basis of their qualifications for that function.
Following the facilitated process for sociocratic elections (as laid out in the implementation
section below) the group suggests candidates, presents arguments for their qualifications,
and then consents to one candidate fulfilling the required function for a limited term.

Why use it?

There is no emergent group wisdom in volunteering or assignment, both methods have a
strong bias towards certain traits of personalities that are not necessarily correlated to good
performance in a role or function.

How to implement it?

The facilitator guides the group through the stages of the election process, and actively
prevents discussion or dialog.
It helps to remind the group that asking for volunteers or who would be interested (or
not interested) would anchor the decision and move it away from the arguments presented.
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 74

Figure 12.6: A Simple Template for Role Descriptions

CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 75

Figure 12.7: Selection process

Present Role Description

The facilitator presents the (previously consented to) description of the role or function,
usually a combination of :

term
responsibilities
resources
desired experience, skills and qualities
criteria, procedure and intervals of evaluation

Its important to never elect for unlimited terms, a new election after a term has expired
allows for an natural expression of the emergent wisdom of the group around who should
hold that role.

Record Nominations
Each member of the group writes down their name and the name of their desired candidate
(or no nomination or hire from the outside) hands in their nomination to the facilitator.
You can use sticky notes with the following format: name of the candidate large and in
the center, your name on the bottom in smaller print.
That way the facilitator can easily work with the nominations in the following rounds.

Reasons for Nominatons

What are the reasons for selecting your candidate?
The facilitator invites each member of the group to share the arguments why they selected
their candidate. If the nominations are on sticky notes the facilitator can stick them to a
wall one by one as the nominations are explained.
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 76

Information Gathering
Is there anything else you would like to share?
In another round, the circle then shares comments, questions and other important infor-
mation while the facilitator helps to avoid discussion or dialog.

Change Nominations
Do you want to change your nomination? If so, please share the reason why.
This round gives participants the chance to change their nominations on the basis of what
they have learned in the previous round. Participants need to share the reasons for changing
their nominations, and may ask questions to a potential candidate for clarifying information
about themselves.
On changing a nomination, participants fill in a new election slip for the facilitator.

Facilitator Proposes Nominee

Now the facilitator summarises the nominations and the arguments and proposes the can-
didate with the strongest arguments as a nominee for selection.
At this point, a discussion of the presented candidate is not necessary, the facilitator may
remind the group that there is value in moving forward quickly and they can raise concerns
or objections in the consent round that follows.

Hear Objections
Do you haven any objections to selecting . . . for this role ?
The facilitator begins the consent round next to the candidate so the candidate is asked
last. Participants answer the question with either yes or no, the objection itself is shared
in the next stage.

Resolving Objections
Those with objections share the reasons for their objections, but theres no discussion before
the round has finished.
The facilitator has several options to resolve objections (see Resolving Objections (sec-
tion 12.5)), in many cases an amendment to the role description (e.g. a shorter term)
followed by another consent round will be enough.
If an amendment of the role description is not possible, the facilitator would select another
candidate from the nominations and start a new consent round.
If the role cannot be filled, the group might decide to use Proposal Forming (section 7.9)
to deal with the issue.

Goes well with. . .

Elections benefit from a good Role Description (section 12.4) and regular [Performance
Review][]. Both the facilitator and the group need to understand the pattern of Rounds
(section 9.1).
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 77

Other comments
People avoid expressing interest before elections
Nominations are made on the strength of the reason

not according to the majority

You can nominate yourself or pass

When harvesting objections, ask the candidate last
Objections may be resolved by amending the role description or by nominating some-
one else

12.6 Eectiveness Review

The Eectiveness Review is a process to harvest appreciations, identify opportunities for
improvement and evolve a role.
The individual holding the role initiates the process and begins each step.
The development plan is usually drafted during the eectiveness review, but can be final-
ized afterwards. In that case, the plan will be circulated to and participants of eectiveness
review for consent before the plan is brought to the full circle.

Steps
1. Invite people with complementing perspectives to contribute to the review, and a
facilitator
2. Collect appreciations
3. Identify areas for improvement

personal development
updates to role description, function or driver

4. Co-create and consent to a development plan

12.7 Development Plan

A development plan is an agreement for developing greater eectiveness in a role. It is
usually created in or after an eectiveness review, and then taken to the full circle for
consent.
Contents of a development plan:

current role description

appreciations
areas for improvement
CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 78

Figure 12.8: The Steps of an Eectiveness Review

Figure 12.9: The Process of Development in a Role

CHAPTER 12. PEOPLE AND ROLES 79

action items to improve eectiveness

evaluation criteria
suggested amendments to role description

Figure 12.10: Template for Development Plans

12.8 Support Roles

Apply the idea of roles to external contractors:

identify function
create a role description
implement a selection process
limit term of the contract
initiate development process

Support roles may be operational only, external contractors opt-in to role descriptions.
Chapter 13

Organizational Structure

The primary function of organizational structure is to enable eective collaboration by

aligning the flow of information to support the flow of value..
Organizational structure needs to evolve continuously in order to adapt to a
changing environment.
Semi-autonomous, self-organizing and self-governing circles are the basic building
blocks for organizational structure.

13.1 Structural Patterns

Sociocracy 3.0 describes a variety of patterns to grow organizational structure
patterns apply to dierent layers of abstraction (basic, micro, macro and meta)
dierent patterns serve dierent drivers
patterns can be combined as needed
more patterns are out there and will be discovered

13.2 Representative
Representatives (a.k.a Links). . . :

. . . stand for the interests of one circle in another circle

. . . are elected for a limited term
. . . participate as full members in governance meetings of the other circle and can:

raise items for the agenda

object to agreements and proposals

80
CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 81

13.3 Double Linking

Motive: Facilitate two-way flow of information and influence

Two interdependent circles each elect a representative to participate as full members

in both circles governance meetings
can be used to prevent tensions in hierarchical structures

Figure 13.1: Two Double-Linked Circles

13.4 Delegate Circle

A pattern for coordination between several teams or circles

Motivation for using this pattern

several teams have overlapping domains or dependencies
theres a need to exchange learning about these domains
theres a need for coordination and decision making
CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 82

Overview
1. several teams identify a shared domain where they cant make decisions autonomously
2. each team selects a delegate (e.g. through Role Selection)
3. delegates form a functional team which coordinates exchange and decisions about the
shared domain
4. delegates inform their team mates of pending decisions and outcome of delegate circle
activities, and bring feedback to the delegate circle
Delegates will be re-elected after their term expires. If a team does not feel represented
well, they can recall the delegate and send a new one.

Figure 13.2: A Delegate Circle Consists of Delegates from other Circles

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 83

Related Patterns
Representative (section 13.2)
Consent Decision Making (section 7.7) for decision making in the delegate circle
Governance Meeting (section 8.2)
Governance Backlog (section 8.1)
Role Selection (section 12.5)

13.5 Coordination Circle

A coordination circle coordinates decision making and collaboration of several circles.
Coordination circles may be accountable for all aspects of collaboration, or just for a
specific subset (or subdomain).

13.6 Service Circle

A pattern for outsourcing shared services
When several teams identify a service they can share, each team selects a delegate to a
service circle. The service circle can then increase its capacity by bringing in more people.
The delegates remain in the service circle to ensure development of the circle is in line with
the needs of the founding circles.
Delegates are selected for a limited term, and can be recalled if the team feels the delegate
does not represent them well.

13.7 Nested Circle

A pattern for expanding the capacity of a function.
When a team finds that a function required for them to deliver value needs more capacity,
but the team wants to avoid the side-eects of adding more people to the team, it can form
a nested circle to add more people for that function.
Coordination between the outer circle and the nested circle happens through one or
several members of the outer team, who are also members of the nested circle. Often nested
circles grow out of a role, so initially those who held that role are usually best suited for
coordination. As with all other roles, its a good idea to assign them for a limited term, and
use Role Selection (section 12.5).

13.8 Helping Circle

Motive: a circle requires a clearly defined service, but has not enough capacity.
A group of people with the mandate to execute on rules and guidelines set by the circle
that encloses or owns the helping circle.
Within the boundaries defined by the rules and guidelines the helping circle might self-
organize, or work with a coordinator or leader. A helping circle usually has no navigation
meeting, but may raise objections to rules and guidelines to the parent circle.
CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 84

Figure 13.3: Influence of a Coordination Circle

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 85

Figure 13.4: A Service Circle

13.9 Double-Linked Hierarchy

A pattern for the early phase of a transformation.
In a double-linked hierarchy, the flow of information and influence between adjacent levels
of the hierarchy is balanced through sending delegates upwards and downwards.
Each level of the hierarchy is made up of a team (instead of individuals).
Each team on a lower level selects one delegate to represent them in the team on the next
higher level. Each team on a higher level sends selects one delegate to each team on the
lower levels. This way, theres always two people familiar with the perspective of each team
present in decision making on the next higher level. Also, when making decisions on the
lower levels, theres always two people present who can bring in the perspective of the next
higher level.

13.10 Peach Organization

Periphery drives the organization, the center provides services.
All teams on the periphery of the organization are in exchange with the outside world, e.g.
with customers, users, partner organizations or aliates. Services required for the periphery
are grown in the center, e.g. administration, coordination, finance, HR, IT services,.

13.11 Backbone Organization

A pattern for multi-stakeholder projects or services.
CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 86

Figure 13.5: A Nested Circle is Linked to the Parent Circle

A backbone organization is usually formed for joint projects or a shared service organi-
zation of several stakeholder organizations.
In the inception phase of a backbone organization, each stakeholder organization sends a
delegate to build the backbone organization. When up and running, the backbone organi-
zation is double-linked to each stakeholder organization.

13.12 Fractal Organization

A Pattern for learning, coordination and alignment across organizational boundaries.
CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 87

Figure 13.6: A Helping Circle

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 88

Figure 13.7: A Double-Linked Hierarchy

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 89

Figure 13.8: A Peach Organization

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 90

Figure 13.9: The Inception Phase of a Backbone Organization

CHAPTER 13. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 91

Figure 13.10: Fractal Organization

Chapter 14

Alignment

The patterns in this section help an organization align on many dierent levels.
Adopt S3 Principles and Agree on Values help establish general guidelines we can all agree
on, and thus reduce the number of explicit agreements we need to make, Contracting and
Accountability brings clarity around the relationship of the individual to the organization,
Transparent Salary oers a perspective of aligning agreements on compensation with the
principles of S3.

14.1 Adopt S3 Principles

Driver:

principles are reflected in all patterns

chosen values (or implicit assumption) guide behavoiur
need: align chosen values and S3 principles to reduce tension with S3 patterns
need: understand principles for correct application of patterns

All patterns contained in S3 are built on seven core principles: consent, empiricism,
equivalence, accountability, eectiveness, transparency and continuous improvement.
When we Agree On Values, we need to check how our chosen values relate to S3s
principles, if theres a conflict, this will most likely result tensions with at least some of S3s
patterns .
Our chosen values should be unique for our organization, theyre how we define our specific
culture.
However, we can also agree on adopting S3s principles as an additional set of general
principles to guide our actions and interactions.
This agreement would include three dierent aspects:

how can we make sure everyone knows and unserstands the 7 principles?
what can we do to help each other apply the 7 principles?
what do we do when we suspect one or more principles are violated in a certain
situation?

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CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 93

Figure 14.1: Organiational Values and the Seven Principles Guide Collaboration
CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 94

Each organization or group needs to find their own answers for these questions, e.g.
through Proposal Forming, heres a few examples:

learn and understand: print the descriptions of the principles form this handbook for
everyone, then get together, pick a pattern from the handbook (at the beginning stick
to those you already use), and discuss how this pattern relates to each of the principles
support each other in application: have a poster with the agreements in your meeting
room, so when making an agreements, you are reminded to check how a proposal
relates to each of the principles
suspected conflict with principles: agree on a protocol for raising concerns or asking
about the intended outcome of a proposal or somebodys actions in relation to the 7
principles.

14.2 Agree On Values

A pattern for setting boundaries for behavior, decisions and actions by adopting a set of
values that is shared throughout an organization.
Motivation for this pattern: Culture in an organization is formed through implicit
assumptions or explicit agreements about acceptable behavior. Agreements and assumptions
can vary throughout an organization.
Making an explicit commitment to aligning behavior, decisions and actions along shared
values improves eectiveness. A value is a principle of some significance that guides behav-
ior. Chosen values are an intentional and collaborative eort to create the culture people
want to see in an organization.

Indicators for using this pattern

Conditions:
lack of shared understanding of the ethical boundaries of decisions and actions across
an organization
more or less radically dierent cultures in dierent parts of an organization
culture in an organization appears to impede greater eectiveness

Needs:
bring members of an organization closer together and align teams
develop norms that compliment objectives
reduce investment required for making eective decisions

The details
When discussing shared values, it can be challenging for the members of an organization
to identify and articulate their shared intrinsic values, because their personal values meet
with explicit and implicit assumptions about expected and appropriate behavior
in the organization. Additionally these assumptions may depend on context, e.g. people
CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 95

behave dierently when a CEO is present in a meeting, and theres often dierent cultures
in dierent parts of the organizations, e.g. in engineering, sales and management.
Therefore its usually easier for people to focus on what behavior they consider as sup-
portive of eective collaboration.
These are their chosen values - the set of values members agree on and commit to in
an intentional and collaborative eort of aligning towards both achieving organizational
objectives and growing the kind of culture they want to see.
Chosen values support eectiveness of an organization by:

oering guidance to determine appropriate action or behavior, often reducing the

need for more specific agreements.
reducing potential for misunderstanding
aligning decision making and action
inviting contribution of all its members
attracting new members, partners and customers in natural alignment with
the organization

Putting it into practice

Since commitment to a set of chosen values is an experiment, an organization benefits from
developing strategies for:

supporting each other in developing shared understanding of the values and for ap-
plying them consistently
learning when values might be updated, refined, or even dropped
responding to situations where individuals suspect a value may have been compromised
or overlooked
discovering and changing existing practices or agreements that stand in the way of
adopting a shared value

As an organization grows structure it is natural that dierent flavors of culture evolve in

dierent domains. Alignment with chosen values across an entire organization allows for
diversity without compromising the wellbeing of the organization.

Articulating values
In order to make chosen values as helpful as possible, consider these guidelines:

1. Agree on the motivation for each value first and imagine the culture thats desired.
2. Limit chosen values to 57 if possible.
3. Express values in concrete terms that people can act on, rather than as abstract
concepts.
4. Create a visual representation of each value.
CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 96

5. Make chosen values visible everywhere in the organization so its easy to remember
and refer to them.
6. Make culture a priority, and get together on a regular basis to understand, develop
and evolve values, e.g. twice a year in an open space (see Open S3 Adoption).

Related patterns
Open S3 Adoption helps with regular review of chosen values
a Retrospective oers a space to observe the eect of adhering to or ignoring values
Adopt S3 Principles may help with reducing the number of chosen values necessary
by providing a set of principles beneficial to all organizations
Driver helps understand and articulate motivation for chosen values

14.3 Transparent Salary

transparent salaries need to be fair
perception of fairness is specific to organization
consider members and relevant stakeholders (e.g. investors)
classic sociocracy: everyone feels gains and losses
consider remuneration for changing roles
create strategy for transitioning towards new contracts and compensation agreements

14.4 Contracting And Accountability

To protect organizational culture, help new members have a smooth start, and provide for
painless development of organizational structure, an organization needs to:

develop a consent-based process for entering the organization that tests for both cul-
tural fit and the skills required
align contracts with both organizational culture and legal requirements
define a default role for a new member
define a process for leaving an organization
provide a way for entering and leaving a circle
CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 97

Figure 14.2: Transparent Salary

14.5 Bylaws
Secure S3 principles and patterns in your bylaws as needed, to protect legal integrity and
organizational culture:

consent decision making

selection process for leadership roles
governance structure
influence of owners or shareholders
CHAPTER 14. ALIGNMENT 98

Figure 14.3: Entering and Leaving a Circle

Chapter 15

Bringing In S3 Patterns

The patterns for introducing an organization to S3 are all based on the paradigm of inviting
change, rather than mandating it.

15.1 Pull-System For Organizational Change

Change in organization (e.g. reorganizations), is commonly designed by a small group of
people, often without even consulting many those aected by that change. This is not only
a sure way of creating resistance to change in people, it also does not take into account the
actual capacity for change, often overloading the system and therefore reducing the overall
capacity of the system - the exact opposite of the intended outcome of the change. This
often leads to the even more change in search of increased eectiveness.
When instead of mandating change, we create a pull-system for change by giving the
people decision making power over all agreements which aect them, they will be able to
navigate both scope and speed of organizational changes themselves, growing a learning
organization with a much greater chance of recovering from overload and usually preventing
it altogether.
Over time, this will allow for the transition from organizational change as a mere reaction
to changes in the environment (e.g. the market) towards intentional change.
In context to S3, organizational change is creating and evolving agreements about how
we organize and collaborate, sometimes in the form of agreeing to experiment with new
patterns from S3.
S3 contains various patterns which are helpful for empowering people to pull in organi-
zational change, heres a shortlist of where to look first:

At the very beginning, you need to invite people to learn more about S3, e.g. through
the pattern Be The Change
when the group understands and Adopts S3 Principles, the principles can serve as an
anchor for discussing potential solutions
Consent Decision Making helps people to make decisions without becoming over-
whelmed
even if you dont go for decisions by consent right away, e.g. because you operate in
a low trust environment, Proposal Forming can be used to tap creativity and wisdom
of the group when preparing organizational change

99
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 100

developing shared understanding of Drivers enables groups to find more eective so-
lutions to problems
Navigate via Tensions helps identify and tackle the most relevant challenges

Of course, taking responsibility for all decisions that aect them is tough to swallow for
many groups, and dierent members will have a dierent understanding of what makes a
good decision making process. To reduce resistance, simply invite the group to try Proposal
Forming and Consent Decision Makingas an experiment for a month. In the absence of
objections, schedule a review session with everyone one month in the future. This will
create a safe space for each participant to develop an understanding of their contribution
in this new way of making decisions a being accountable. They will learn to trust in the
circle to make decisions every can live with, and to bring about change in a pace the circle
can sustain. Depending on an organizations culture or a circles history, mentoring and
coaching is helpful to support the circle in moving out of their comfort zone and discovering
their true capacity for change.

15.2 Adapt Patterns To Context

Patterns are merely ideas that worked for somebody somewhere, in their culture, their per-
ception of the world, their strengths and growing edges. Your context is certainly dierent,
so if you simply copy and paste a pattern, it might not work for you. This is why you
sometimes need to adapt a pattern to your context.

Context for Successful Application:

In order to successfully adapt a pattern, a circle needs to develop shared understanding of
both the pattern and their specific context. In almost every case it makes sense to gather
the circle for this, to ensure both buy-in of all circle members and availability of all the
knowledge and experience present in the circle. Often its a good idea for everyone to
review the pattern before the workshop.

Application
The basic steps of the process of adapting a pattern are very simple, and can be implemented
in various levels of detail:

develop shared understanding of the pattern and your context

co-create an adaptation of the pattern
evaluate eectiveness and evolve your adaptation
share your experience with others, and consider feeding back successful adaptations
to the S3 handbook
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 101

Figure 15.1: Adapting a pattern to context

CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 102

Understand the Pattern and Your Context

Heres a set of activities to guide you, pick those you find valuable for you. Its up to the
facilitator to facilitate them in rounds or as a brainstorming, and to visualize all the results
in a way they can be seen by all participants. Give space for questions, so at the end
everyone feels they understand the outcome.

What is the problem the pattern aims to solve? How does this match to your
driver for seeking out this pattern? Note similarities and dierences.
What is the context for successful application of the pattern? List both the
common ground and the dierences to your context?
If the pattern describes variants, determine which variant might be the best fit for
you. It is this variant you would attempt to adapt first.
Does your context match one or several of the known limitations or disadvantages
of a pattern? Make a note which ones.
If the pattern description lists advantages, mark the ones you would want to preserve.
If the patterns contains references to other patterns, go and see if they contain
something to help you.
How does the pattern relate to each of the seven principles behind S3? Note what
is important and should be preserved.

Co-Create an Adaptation of the Pattern

A simple an eective way for creating an adaptation of a pattern is Proposal Forming1 ,
where you can use the output of the first phase as considerations or ingredients for your
adaptation.
Considering Intended Outcome2 and Evaluation Criteria3 of your proposed adaptation
will help you evaluate and evolve the patterns later.
The proposal needs to be agreed upon by the circle, e.g. by using Consent Decision
Making4

Variants
If you feel that everyone has a solid understanding of the context and the pattern anyway,
e.g. because you are already using it for a while and experience limitations, you might skip
the first part and go right into Proposal Forming.
A circle might also appoint one or several members to create a proposal for an adaptation
in any way they see fit, e.g. by using the activities for understanding pattern and context
suggested above, and then present the proposal to the circle, e.g. in the Navigation Meeting5 .
1 proposal-forming.md
2 intended-outcome.md
3 evaluation-criteria.md
4 consent-decision-making.md
5 navigation-meeting.md
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 103

Known Limitations
Adapting patterns works best when everyone involved is invested in understanding S3 prin-
ciples, the pattern in question and the context of the circle. Some circles have a culture of
high resistance to things they did not develop themselves, or they have pain points or blind
spots which make it dicult to approach some patterns with an open mind.

15.3 Driver Mapping

Driver mapping is a workshop format for identifying organizational structure within a do-
main or an entire organization. Its based on Impact Mapping by Gojko Adzic, but focussed
more on flow of value and information, instead of actual deliverables (identifying deliverables
is the accountability of the respective domain).
The result of driver mapping is organizational structure aligned to the pull of external and
internal actors, e.g. customers/users, partners, members, communities and municipalities.
Depending on the size of the organization, department or team aected, driver mapping
will have to be facilitated in a dierent way.
Most of the activities described below are suitable for groups of 1015 people (depending
maturity of the group and skill of the facilitator), for larger groups consider having partici-
pants self-organize into groups of up to five people, and add activities to consolidate input
of the groups and consent to the result.
The implementation of driver mapping explained below is just one way to implement
it, make sure to adapt it to your specific needs, e.g. using Adapt Patterns To Context
(section 15.2).

Step 1: Why are we here?

Understand the driver(s) for the organization, and describe it in terms of needs and condi-
tions and consent to each driver. Output of this phase is one or more posters with details
on the driver(s).

focus on completeness and shared understanding, but dont waste time on writing
elegant statements, this is a task for later
get input for both internal and external view on the driver(s)

Generative questions:

individual perspective (first): why are you with this organization? and what is it
you wish for?
organizations perspective (second): why are we here?

When working with subgroups for the activities, collect the individual perspective first
and share with the whole group before working on the organizational perspective. Instruct
subgroups to only share what people said, but not to link it to who said it.
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 104

Step 2: Who are the actors?

List actors and stakeholders pulling on the organization. Actors can be individuals or
groups, also the organization itself, or parts of it, as well as individual members.
Output of this step is a collection of all relevant actors, each on a separate sticky note or
card (use the same color for all actors).
Generative questions:

Who is aected?
Who is needed?
Who can support or impede?

At the end, assign a number to each actor.

Step 3: What do they need?

Collect needs and motives.
Output of this step is a collection of needs on sticky notes (use the same color for all
needs).
Generative questions:

What are the needs of each actor?

What do we need from them?
add needs on sticky notes to each actor and add the actors number to each one
with large group: form smalls group around each actor
make sure group consents to each need, explicitly ask them to seek out needs they
dont agree with and resolve the resulting objections

Step 4: Identify Domains

Group needs into (semi-)autonomous domains.
Output of this step is a set of posters with domains, which will later be implemented as
circles, roles, or, in some cases, agreements.
Remove actors cards and and group needs into logical clusters, those are your domains.
Move each group to a poster and agree on a meaningful name for each domain.
Add boundaries, or other relevant bits of information popping up (risks, questions etc.)
on sticky notes to the domains.

Step 5: Organize
Agree on circle structure for domains.
Output of this step is an agreement on how domains will be connected and coordinated
(if necessary), as well as the type (circle, role, agreement) for each domain.
Create a proposal for circle structure (including roles, if any), include delegate circles,
coordination circles and service circles to link domains as needed.
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 105

Figure 15.2: A Simple Template for Domains

Use proposal forming, or proposal forming for large groups (collect considerations and
ideas in small groups and send delegates) to build the proposal.
Consent to proposal and integrate any objections you encounter.
Add role selections and emerging items to governance backlogs of each domain, and assign
the review for the circle structure to the appropriate domain.

Step 6: Populate circles

Find members for each circle
Output of this step is a list of members for each circle.
Generative question:

Who can contribute to which circles?

People add their name on a sticky note to circles they think they can contribute to
eectively, taking into account the their skills and other relevant factors. Should some
people decide to be part of several circles, they are accountable for balancing their available
time.

Step 7: What do we need to run safely?

Circles meet and make sure their circle is able to respond to its driver eectively.
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 106

Output of this phase is a collection of proposals for amending circle structures and circle
membership, as well as open questions, work items and governance items for each circle.
Have each circle gather around their domain poster and review the domains viability,
both as a (semi-)autonomous unit and in relationship to the rest of the organization.
Identify. . .

missing resources or skills or capacity

unclear boundaries or scope of the circle
open questions
required handovers or tasks for transitioning from the previous structure (if any)
risks, challenges, impediments and opportunities

. . . and add them as work items or governance items to the circle poster.
When facilitating this step, visit each circle to support them, and remind participants to
visit all the circles they are members of.
Circles create proposals for adapting circle structure or circle membership if necessary,
and present them to the whole group. Amend circle structure as needed.

Step 8: Welcome your new organization

Celebrate your new organization, and agree on start and review date.
Output of this step is an agreement when the new circle structure will be implemented,
when it will be reviewed, and who will guide the process.

Figure 15.3: The Steps of Driver Mapping

CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 107

Whats next?
Heres a list of things the new circles will have to do, e.g. in their first governance meeting,
before they can start working:

Prioritize work and governance backlogs

Refine description of the circles driver, explain conditions, set clear boundaries/define
scope of domain
Identify deliverables (tasks, products/services) and reasonable expectations for re-
sponding to the circles driver, and add them to either the work backlog (work items,
clear, well-defined) and governance backlog (meta-items, large, uncertain, impact on
way of working)
Brainstorm challenges, impediments, risks and opportunities for each domain and add
to governance backlog.
Create role descriptions and hold selections for roles (including delegates)
Make a plan for handover and transition from the previous structure

15.4 Continuous Improvement Of Work Process

Continuous improvement of work process reveal tensions and helps establish a metrics-based
pull-system for organizational change:

start with consent in one circle, elect a facilitator, define values, and go
trigger continuous improvement (e.g through Kanban)
let them pull in patterns
then expand the scope of the experiment

Waste and Continuous Improvement

Waste is anything not necessary for - or standing in the way of - eective response to a
driver.

waste exists in many dierent forms and on dierent levels of abstraction (tasks,
processes, organizational structure, mental models. . . )
establishing a process for ongoing elimination of waste enables natural evolution of an
organization towards greater eectiveness
adaptation to changing environment is built into the process
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 108

Figure 15.4: Identifying Waste

15.5 Open S3 Adoption

Instead of mandating S3, the formal authorities make the call for members of the organiza-
tion to get together in an Open Space and invite them to co-create experiments theyd like
to conduct around S3 patterns. This usually happens after some small experiments in an
organization demonstrated the potential of S3.
Conducting the first Open Space:

explain boundaries for experiments: S3 principles and patterns

explain Open Space rules and principle
co-create agenda
provide space to share experiences and ideas between sessions
provide a platform for announcing initiatives and experiments
announce next Open Space

In regular intervals, usually twice a year, the whole organization will get together again
in an Open Spaces to evaluate experiment and design new ones. In between Open Spaces
formal authorities support the experiments and collect stories.
This pattern is based on OpenSpace agility (formerly Open Agile Adoption) by Dan
Mezick.
CHAPTER 15. BRINGING IN S3 PATTERNS 109

15.6 Be The Change

Become the change you want to create, tell the story how you discovered S3. Invite others
for experiments, invite them to share their stories, then learn and grow together.
 Part III

Appendix

110
Chapter 16

Changelog

20160905

added description for driver mapping

patterns now grouped in logical order (previously: alphabetical)

20160824

integrated 8 new and several updated images

new content from slide deck All Patterns Explained. Each pattern now has content.
lots of small fixes, typos, etc.

20160620

added Bernhards drafts and pattern descriptions

new format for pdf and epub
many small fixes and corrections

20160229

cleaned up image folder

20160128

Conversion of the material contained in the Introduction to Sociocracy 3.0 slide deck

20160127

Initial setup of the patterns repository.

111
Chapter 17

About the Authors

Bernhard Bockelbrink is an an agile coach, consultant and trainer, supporting organiza-

112
CHAPTER 17. ABOUT THE AUTHORS 113

tions in agile transformations and helping them on their way towards an evolved culture of
leadership and close collaboration that allows them to sustainably grow great products and
services with happy people.
He has 18 years of experience in as an agile coach, CTO, scrum master, product owner,
project manager, technology consultant and developer in Startups, small-/medium-sized
businesses and enterprises, and a passion for agile and lean software development that goes
back to the late 1990s.

James Priest combines 18 years experience of project management with over a decade sup-
porting intentional communities, organisations and individuals to thrive.
An advocate of transformational tools and methods facilitating self-fulfillment, more con-
scious relationships and collaborative organisation, his current synthesis of approach includes
well known tools such as Sociocracy, Non Violent Communication, Way of Council, Inner
Voice Dialogue and the Psychology of Selves.
In addition to his services as a holistic organisational development consultant, James
provides facilitation and training for community groups and organisations, sharing his pas-
CHAPTER 17. ABOUT THE AUTHORS 114

sion for understanding and navigating the subtle energetic dimensions of relationship and
organisational systems.

evolving collaboration http://evolving-collaboration.com

Feedback and comments: [email protected]