flat - hivewyre
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Flat - The eBook How to fuel innovation, speed, and culture without managers. “Management did not emanate from nature, someone invented it. Management is great if you want compliance, but if you want engagement, self-direction is better.” Dan Pink, author of Drive, The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. The world today creates more and more urgency for companies to move faster, adapt quicker, and innovate higher. Doing so is required just to stay alive, and multi-layered organizations are at a disadvantage based on their bloated structure alone. In this free eBook, learn how a progressive new startup is changing the way companies get things done by eliminating the traditional management structure and providing a new level of autonomy for it’s employees. While others are still operating in the last century’s paradigm, adhesive.co is laying the groundwork for how companies must operate in today’s marketplace. With near-ubiquitous access to technology, the new battle that our country faces to remain a competitive force hinges on creativity and innovation. Today’s most creative and innovative companies recognize this and have made a conscious effort to focus their cultures on freedom and choice as a means of fostering innovation. The practice of creating and operating a flat organization elevates these core values above all else by empowering employees, rather than restricting them with messy rules and hierarchy. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast!” Peter Drucker Our founding fathers didn’t aim to create a better monarchy; they sought to supplant the concept of a monarchy entirely. They wanted something more, something to replace the voice of few with the voice of all. They set the stage for what would become the most prosperous nation on the planet based on a core tenet: freedom. Our country operates on civil (“Do what you say you’re going to do”) and criminal (“Do no harm”) laws, and within this framework we’ve thrived and prospered. We the authors believe that a company, like a country, can thrive with the same balance of freedom and structure. We all want freedom and autonomy. We want to do the things we want to do, and we want to do them the way we feel they should be done. We want to do it our way. The ability (or lack thereof) to do so is arguably the most important factor when it comes to our workplace satisfaction. Why is it we feel that if we extend that level of freedom throughout the workplace the entire company will just fall to the ground? Surely nobody will show up for work and nothing will get done, says conventional wisdom. Letting employees dictate their own schedules, purchase resources from the company checkbook without approval, and taking unlimited vacation time is just a recipe for disaster. We must hire managers to babysit our adult workforce to keep order and productivity in line. Companies think they just can’t function without the typical command and control we’ve grown accustom to.TRANSCRIPT
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Growing. Together.
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Our founding fathers didn’t set their sites on making a better monarchy, they sought to supplant it.
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There are 2 basic principals that lead to abundance, happiness and prosperity.
1. Don’t use force against each other (criminal)
2. Keep your commitments (civil)
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Responsibility is freedom’s twin
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Leaders not ManagersGuidingPrincipals
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Key positions often go to those who are the most politically astute vs. the competent.
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When you take out the pyramid, you drain most of the poison out.
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Power is ‘sticky’. It doesn’t typically flow from an individual who is less capable to someone that’s more.
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No individual can fire anyoneGuidingPrincipals
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No individual can change your compensationGuidingPrincipals
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There are no titles.
We are all colleagues.
GuidingPrincipals
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The company’s leaders are determined by you. Leadership is not something that is granted, it is earned.
You and your peers will determine who you will follow and who you look up to for guidance and mentorship.
GuidingPrincipals
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The core of a flat structure is making and keeping commitments.
(Value: Make commitments and meet them)
Persuade vs. Dictate
GuidingPrincipals
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3.) Re-negotiate the commitment if you feel you need. The Client doesn’t have to agree if they don’t feel it’s for the right reasons.
4.) Meet the commitment1.) Colleague asks you for a commitment
2.) Agree on a Commitment
Commitment loop
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Keeping commitments creates economic value and makes you as an individual and the enterprise you work within more valuable.
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A goal is something you aspire to achieve. A goal is NOT a commitment.
Consistently keeping commitments is something you must do in order to remain
with the company.
Goals vs. commitments
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Making a commitment is voluntary.
Nobody can force you to make a commitment.NOBODY!
Persuade vs. Dictate
commitments
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Colleague Letter of Commitments
(CLC Doc)Pronounced Click Doc
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A CLC doc should not include a list
of goals.
Clc doc
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Commitments go well beyond what’s in your CLC doc.
Any time you say your going to do something and when you’re going to have
it done by, it’s a commitment.
So be very clear when you’re stating a goal. It’s your responsibility to do so.
Clc doc
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If you’re seeking a commitment from a colleague, get it in writing to avoid
miscommunication.Clc doc
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A new colleague cannot be hired without the following:
Sign-off on CLC doc that includes list of required commitments for position
Approved compensation from comp committee
hiring
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• If a colleague has an issue with a fellow colleague that cannot be worked out, they can ask for mediation.
• Colleagues cannot meet with a mediator on their own to discuss issues about a fellow colleague. They can only meet as a group.
• Mediators are required to ensure this takes place as a group.• Colleagues should work out issues with their colleagues on their
own whenever possible. • Use of a mediator should be a last resort, not a first one.• Mediators should provide input and advice on the situation and
request that the parties work out their difference.• If both parties cannot agree, then a second mediation will take
place with 3 or more mediators (when we have 3). The mediators will make a final ruling that all parties must agree to.
mediation
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Exceptions:
If you feel in danger, threatened or harassed you will not be expected to have a group mediation.
If it’s proven that someone is threatening a colleague, causes them harm, engages in illegal activities or harassment, then a senior leader in the company could immediately dismiss them if they find merit in the accusations and bypass the mediation process.
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When a leader has completely lost faith in an individual to meet their commitments in the current position they’re in and feels they need to use a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) to prove it, it’s better to have a difficult and direct conversation and present other options. Other options could include a request that they resign or a suggesting another position where they feel they could succeed. If the colleague feels that they can still succeed and rise to the occasion, it may be necessary for both parties to establish a set of commitments that prove their capable of doing the job. Any colleague always has the ability to say no to a commitment request that they feel is not core to their position but they must be prepared to defend their stance.
Heart to heart
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It’s our collective burden to ensure we enforce this value.
When you experience a colleague that you feel is a ‘brilliant jerk’, it’s your responsibility to have a crucial conversation with them about their behavior. If you don’t see the changes you feel are necessary to be in line with our culture, let a senior leader know your thoughts and request a mediation.
Colleagues who do not fit our culture will ultimately be asked to leave if the compensation committee and commitment committee agree it’s in the best interest of our culture.
No brilliant jerks
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What is a Commitment Mediation (CM):• Colleague not meeting agreed to commitments• The perception that a colleague is sandbagging on their
commitments• Colleague not agreeing to commitments that are reasonable for the
role they were originally hired for
Commitment mediation
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• There must be 3 mediators in attendance (when we have 3)• Meeting will take place ASAP• The mediators are there to review facts. Colleagues have the burden of proving
that a fellow colleague has not met their commitments. Only objective commitments will be reviewed. Objective requires that a number(s) are included.
• Commitments are not limited to what’s found in the CLC Doc.• What are some of the things you can you expect from a C.M.?
• Guidance from the mediators and a request that the individuals continue to work out their differences
• Possible termination• A recommendation that a colleague take a new position in the company (if
available) that might better fit their skill level
Commitment mediation
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• Every new colleague and existing colleagues compensation must be produced and agreed to by a majority of the comp committee.
• Packages will be based on market data whenever available. • Pay will be a reflection of the following:
• Market data • Your commitments and ability to meet them• Company goals
• At any time, a colleague can request that the comp committee review their current pay and commitments and ask for a comp review based on the fact they have increased their commitments or the market has changed. • At that time, the C.C. will reach out to their colleagues and being a
review process to determine if the colleague is due increased compensation. This process will become more formal over time.
Compensation committee
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• It may be necessary for the company to reduce it’s workforce due to changes in the market, competition or strategy adjustments.
• It may also be necessary for a specific position to be eliminated.
• In order to this occur, the compensation committee must agree on the proposed changes.
Layoffs or position changes
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Finally!
You can expect more processes.
process
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A process are sequences of activities that produce value for your clients (internal or external).
Rules are different than process. Rules are typically put in place to protect individuals or the company from making a mistake. They’re often arbitrary and typically handed down from ‘above’.
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Some rules are necessary such as accounting restrictions or rules.
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Example:Toyota has a process process for building a carAnyone on the line can stop production and introduce something new to the process.
Rule: You must wear safety goggles
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A process mindset thinks beyond individual quirks, personalities and conflicts.
A process culture values its processes as strategic assets, and seeks independence from individual knowledge bases and ‘turf’.
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An enterprise with a process mindset will always have a strategic competitive advantage over an organization that doesn’t – because a process culture leads to continuous improvement.
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Success is about healthy confrontation.
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