Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them
I wish everyone would read Humanocracy—and I mean everyone: employees, employers, politicians and many more besides.
It covers a wide range of topics, from the Enlightenment and the concept of an open, pluralistic society, to today’s common corporate culture.
It starts with a question I have often asked myself: in our personal and social lives, we trust others to make important decisions. But as soon as they enter the office, their autonomy disappears and autocracy reigns.
One of my favourite examples from the book is that of a pilot who is entrusted with an aeroplane that costs millions. Yet if the pilot wants a new uniform, they have to fill out an application form and justify their request. Doesn’t his employer trust someone who is responsible for human lives every day to decide when their uniform needs replacing?
Bureaucracy is like pornography: it’s hard to find anyone who’ll defend it, but there’s a lot of it around.
The book clearly explains how bureaucracy arises, why it is important and when it becomes excessive. It provides practical tips on how to reduce it. It provides examples of companies that are more efficient and effective with less bureaucracy.
Many of the recommendations made me think, ‘I’ve been saying that for years!’ At Datentreiber, for example, we have been saying for 10 years that strategy is not exclusively the responsibility of management, but that employees should also be involved. Because:
- They usually have a better understanding of how the business really works – I have seen this in every single workshop!
- They have to implement the strategy anyway, so they need to trust it. If they are involved in designing the strategy themselves, trust will inevitably develop.
The book refers to this as an “open strategy process”, which involves “strategy co-creation” or even “strategy crowdsourcing”.
We simply call it strategy design. 😉
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