#95 - Avoiding the Agile Bureaucracy with Rosa and Hjorteland

In today’s episode, we are joined by João Rosa and Trond Hjorteland, two organizational consultants with a unique point of view, who take us through the depth of Open Systems Theory, and what it means to be socio-technical practitioners, passionate about transitioning democratic organizations to fast-flowing operational models. 

With many years of experience in large and complex contexts, they delve into what it means to create a collaborative and democratic organization, and how to balance mission, business outcomes, and cognitive load.

Join us on this episode, as we debate the role of “purpose”, entrepreneurship, and autonomy and learn how to avoid the creation of agile bureaucracies.

Tune in, and get inspired.

In the conversation with Rosa and Hjorteland we started from an original question that Simone threw out at a small conference recently: how do we avoid building Agile Bureaucracies?  What does it mean to develop a business that achieves agility without having to exert total control on flows and processes?

With increasingly complex and dynamic environments, it becomes pivotal for organizations to recognize and adapt to change, if not stay ahead of it and rigidities are more than dangerous - even the cultural ones.

Emphasizing learnings from different methodologies like Open Systems Theory, Domain Driven Design, and Team Topologies; our guests advocate a team-centered, and democratic approach over industrial and hierarchical practices. A unique episode to look out for. Tune in.

Key Highlights

👉 Evolving socio-technical systems to enhance organizational resilience against complexity and unpredictability.

👉 Integrating agile practices, Open System Theory, and collaborative sense-making to navigate complex organizational challenges.

👉 Participatory culture for enabling team autonomy and fostering ownership practices.

👉 Balancing strategic focus with adaptability, by leveraging external technologies for organizational evolution.

👉 The role of Team Topologies in creating effective communication and collaboration structures within organizations.

👉 Encouraging the shift towards a micro-entrepreneurial mindset within teams to promote innovation and autonomy.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Intro - Avoiding the Agile Bureaucracy with Rosa and Hjorteland

(00:59) Guests Introduction

(02:37) Status Quo: Socio-Technical Systems

(10:38) Aligning organizational design and business outcomes

(20:52) Enabling entrepreneurship and building optionality

(39:25) Disruptions in Industrial Organization Thinking

(50:28) Theory of Organizations for a Complex World

(58:40) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/Rosa-Hjorteland/

Episode recorded on February 6, 2024

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music⁠⁠