Slides for my session at the International Sociocracy Online Conference 2018

1. What does
S3 bring to
sociocracy?
Bernhard Bockelbrink
@ International Sociocracy Online Conference
2018
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 1

2. What does "sociocracy"" mean?
Sociocracy: A mindset where people affected by decisions can
influence them on the basis of reasons to do so.
Sociocratic Circle Method (SCM): A method for governing an
organization developed by Gerard Endenburg and taught by the
Sociocracy Group
Agile: A mindset for solving complex problem in self-organized
teams, with a value-driven and iterative approach
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 2

3. Sociocracy 3.0 in a nutshell:
Tools for effective collaboration at any scale
• A practical guide for evolving agile and resilient organizations
• A path for developing an agile and sociocratic mindset
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 3

4. What's in it for me?
Sociocracy 3.0 - a.k.a. "S3" - brings you an extensive collection of guidelines and
practices (patterns) that have proven helpful for organizations for improving
performance, alignment, fulfillment and wellbeing.
S3 helps you discover how to best reach your objectives and navigate complexity, one
step at a time, without the need for radical reorganization or a big change initiative:
• Simply start with your area of greatest need, select one or more patterns to try,
move at your own pace and develop skills as you go.
• Regardless of your position in the organization, you will find patterns that are
relevant and helpful for you.
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 4

5. Once upon a time...
• ...I discovered SCM
• my background: agile software development
• what I knew: How to solve complex problems in self-organized teams
• what got into my way: the rest of the organization, "management", "leadership",
"bureaucracy"
• Agile (and lean) had no real answers to that, they explicitly avoided the issue because if
you tackle that, you often challenge people's core beliefs.
• I discovered sociocracy through a friend, and was amazed: lots of great ideas, it seemed
like the missing piece, the solution to a lot of problems
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 5

6. Sociocracy: It's pretty obscure method, you
probably haven't heard of it.
• I embraced sociocracy: I used it in my projects, held workshops
and gave talks at conferences
• people liked it, but asked: why has SCM not caught on in the last
40 years?
• my answer then: there's no good free materials in English. But I'll
make some...
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 6

7. The Sociocracy Remix Kit
• I created a simple website with only text and some nice images
that explained Sociocracy as I saw it back then: https://
agileorganizations.io
• the core idea: break down SCM into small pieces (around 30 back
then) so people could just pick one or more and experiment with it
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 7

8. Collaboration With James Priest
• I showed the Remix Kit to James Priest, and he had a lot to say about my
first version. But he liked the idea of creating free materials
• so we set out to make sociocracy accessible to as many organizations as
possible
• we got together and created a youtube video intro about SCM, and while
working on that, we discovered a lot of things we got into arguments about
• though a process of questioning everything, and through observing how
we went about this, we eventually arrived at what S3 is today
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 8

9. S3 is not a method
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
• methods sound good on paper, but they usually fail in the complexity of real life
• methods create resistance: why should people change their mind on a
promise?
• revolutions break a lot of stuff that's working, and we're still stuck in the old
mindset
• we need to respect the culture of an organization and the experience of
individuals
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 9

10. S3 is built from patterns
Reducing Risk and Resistance
• a pattern is a small change that brings value to an organization by solving a
specific problem
• our goal: everyone will find a pattern that can help them in their situation -
even people who need to wear a suit !
• people evolve a new mindset at their own pace by experimenting with patterns
to solve their actual problems
• to encourage experimentation, S3 patterns are simple and lightweight
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 10

11. Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 11

12. A new model of distribution
S3 is free
• all the resources we create are available under a Creative Commons
license:
• the resources themselves http://sociocracy30.org/resources
• the source files: https://github.com/S3-working-group
• the software we create to build our resources: e.g. mdtools and
ogtool
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 12

13. A new model of distribution
S3 is open and decentralized
• S3 is not brought into organizations by management (or leaders), everyone can pull
in and use patterns in their area of autonomy
• we encourage adaptation and evolution
• everything is based on seven simple principles
• we provide a simple shared language (terms and concepts) to discuss
organizations and work
• we have a glossary that explains what each term means to us
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 13

14. From Aim or Purpose to
Drivers
• for effective collaboration, everyone involved
needs to understand the "why"
• aims, objectives, visions, purpose often put the
cart before the horse
• S3 helps people develop shared understanding of
the organization's motive to respond to a specific
situation (what we call an organizational driver)
• four aspects of drivers: the current situation, the
effect of this situation on the organization, the
need of the organization in relation to this
situation and the impact of attending to that need
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 14

15. A holistic approach
• success is 95% work and 5% governance
• life is one indivisible whole
• s3 brings a consistent mindset to all
aspects of collaboration (work AND
governance)
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 15

16. Integration with Agile and
Lean Thinking
• agile and lean have many great tools and
methods
• S3 plays nice with all of them
• S3 is not empty, it's opinionated: we
embrace self-organization
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 16

17. New Ways to Evolve
Organizational Structure
• SCM and Holacracy still embraces hierarchy and
leaders
• self-organization does not need leaders (but
benefits from distributed leadership)
• hierarchies fail in complex situations
• Conway's Law: Our organizational structure
determines the software architecture we can create
(and hierarchical architecture does not scale well)
• S3 brings patterns for evolving an organization's
structure into what this specific organization needs
right now
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 17

18. Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 18

19. Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 19

20. Sociocracy 3.0 is
• free - all you need is an open mind to unlearn a few things
• open - take it and do whatever you want with it
• accessible - simple enough so everyone can play with it
• small enough so it's not perceived as a risk
• easily adaptable (we even have a pattern for adapting patterns)
• value-based (all is built on the seven principles)
• opinionated (not "empty") - built on self-organization, complexity thinking and a decentralized
mindset (not on a hierarchy)
• strong brand - simple logo, compelling visuals, and a sense of style
Bernhard Bockelbrink (v2018-05-01) - http://sociocracy30.org 20

21. What now?
• Sociocracy 3.0 Website: https://sociocracy30.org
• S3 - A practical guide http://sociocracy30.org/guide
• S3 Canvas Series: http://sociocracy30.org/s3-canvas/
• my blog: http://evolving-collaboration.com
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22. Bernhard Bockelbrink
Bernhard Bockelbrink is an agile coach,
trainer and consultant supporting
individuals, teams and organizations in
navigating complex challenges and
developing a culture of effective, conscious
and joyful collaboration.
evolvingcollaboration.com --
bernhard.bockelbrink@gmail.com
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23. License
This work by Bernhard Bockelbrink licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view
a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
sa/4.0/.
This work is based on "S3 - A Practical Guide" by Bernhard
Bockelbrink, Liliana David and James Priest, available on http://
sociocracy30.org
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