BOUNDARYLESS CONVERSATIONS PODCAST — EPISODE 95

#95 — Avoiding the Agile Bureaucracy with Rosa and Hjorteland

Published in

Stories of Platform Design

3 min readMar 5, 2024

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.

Podcast Notes

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.

Stream Now

You can also watch the full episode here on YouTube.

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

38:55 Disruptions in Industrial Organization Thinking

49:56 Theory of Organizations for a Complex World

58:09 Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

To find out more about their work:

Other references and mentions:

Recorded on 6th February 2024.

Streaming Platforms

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, and other podcast streaming platforms.

Music

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

Transcript

Check complete notes on our Blog.

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo