disappearing managers, yapc::eu 2014, bulgaria, keynote

April 8, 2023 Copyright 2014, All Around The World

You’re Killing Managers

Keep it up.

YAPC::EU Keynote, Bulgaria, 2014Curtis "Ovid" Poe

http://allaroundtheworld.fr/


Why Aren’t I Talking About Perl?


My Goal is to Inspire You


Agile is Spreading

“The Best Kept Management SecretOn The Planet: Agile”

Forbes, April 2012http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/04/09/the-best-kept-management-secret-on-the-planet-agile/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/04/09/the-best-kept-management-secret-on-the-planet-agile/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/04/09/the-best-kept-management-secret-on-the-planet-agile/


It’s called a “bubble”

Photo by Hartwig HKD — https://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/2595755975/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/2595755975/in/photostream/


The “New” Tech Industry …

• Needs to move fast• Needs to adjust to its environment• Iconoclastic by necessity• Old-school versus new-school


The Elephant in the Agile Room

• Why do self-directed teams need managers?• The “unsolved problem” in Agile• Traditional management doesn’t work• So … history

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hbarrison/7522705738/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hbarrison/7522705738/


Hunter-Gatherers

• Follow the leader• … or die• Not much hierarchy

A Kali'na hunter with a woman gatherer.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalina_hunter_gatherer.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalina_hunter_gatherer.jpg


The Feudal Era


The Corporate Era

Bill Gates, Berlin, 2013

http://www.dts-nachrichtenagentur.de/kostenlose_bilder.php




Startup


Growth


Mature


Feudalism 2.0


Progressive


Feudal Inefficiencies

• Local allegiances• Poor internal communication• No price signals• No internal markets• Command-and-control from king to serf


Corporate Inefficiencies

• Local allegiances• Poor internal communication• No price signals• No internal markets• Command-and-control from CEO to serf


Why Do Corporations Struggle?

• Why don't big companies innovate more?(Forbes)

• Why big companies can't innovate.(Harvard Business Review)

• Why is innovation so hard for large companies?(Game Changer)

• Why small companies have the innovation advantage.(entrepreneur.com)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/06/21/why-dont-big-companies-innovate-more/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/06/21/why-dont-big-companies-innovate-more/

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/09/why-big-companies-cant-innovate/

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/09/why-big-companies-cant-innovate/

http://www.game-changer.net/2012/09/13/why-is-innovation-so-hard-for-large-companies/%23.Uk8mdlIW3TQ

http://www.game-changer.net/2012/09/13/why-is-innovation-so-hard-for-large-companies/%23.Uk8mdlIW3TQ

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220558

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220558


The Dark Side of Analyst Coverage: The Case of Innovation. (Journal of Financial Economics)

Used under “Fair Use” copyright exception http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader?file=Lord_Darth_Vader.jpg

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1959125

http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader?file=Lord_Darth_Vader.jpg





Public Companies

• Share prices tied to compensation• Share prices tied to job security• Share prices vis-à-vis company takeover• Share prices as a measure of success


Share Prices

Keeping share prices highrequires minimizing risk

Jashuah - Own work by uploader, data from Stooq - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAX#mediaviewer/File:DAX.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAX%23mediaviewer/File:DAX.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAX%23mediaviewer/File:DAX.png


Share Prices

Minimizing risk=

Minimizing innovation


If we are willing to die for Democracy and Capitalism… why don’t we allow it in our corporations?

By Dan Smith (Own work) CC-BY-SA-2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0


Why Bother?

• Little personal incentive• Risk averse/hide-and-seek• Blame avoidance• Groupthink

Dilbert image, created by Scott Adams, used under “Fair use” copyright exceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert#mediaviewer/File:Dilbert-20050910.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert%23mediaviewer/File:Dilbert-20050910.png


Why Do Feudal Corporations Exist?


Why Do Feudal Corporations Exist?

• Brand recognition• Mature products• Financial reserves

1924 IBM Logo


How Do Large Corporations Cope?

• BBC Blue Room• Funding startups• Litigation (“Hello, RIAA”)

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/10/start-ups-europe-0


“Managerless” Companies


Basecamp (formerly 37signals)

• Basecamp, Highrise, Campfire, Rails• 35 to 40 employees• Self-organizing teams• Reluctantly trying “middle manager” role

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323420604578652051466314748.html


Github

• Github!• 200+ employees• Self-organizing teams• Reluctantly trying “middle manager” role

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323420604578652051466314748.html


VALVE

• 250+ people• Better profits/employee than Google or Apple• The platonic ideal of Agile?• What are corporations for?

http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/economics/why-valve-or-what-do-we-need-corporations-for-and-how-does-valves-management-structure-fit-into-todays-corporate-world/


VALVE

• Half-Life series• Counter-Strike series• Team Fortress series• Portal series• Left 4 Dead series• Steam


VALVE

• Entirely self-funded• Own their intellectual property

• “Hiring well is the most important thing in the universe. Nothing else comes close.”


VALVE

• No managers• None• Really

Not really


VALVE

• No job titles*

• Everybody is an expert• 100% Time• All desks have wheels• Evaluation by your peers


New Employee Handbook

VALVEhttp://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf

http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf

http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf


High-tech is the Catalyst

← Not that one


Ricardo Semler• Over 3,000 employees!• 24%-27% annual growth for 25 years• All employees share profits• Many employees choose their salaries• Employees vote for managers• "Leading by Omission" speech (Google it)


Semco’s Three Values

• Democracy• Profit-sharing• Transparency


Other Managerless* Comapanies

• Morning Star Foods• W. L. Gore & Associates• Zappos.com• Medium.com• … and many more


Agile — Products Over Process

• Managers process• Workers produce• → Workers over managers


Managerless companies

• Usually Agile/Lean• Usually tech companies• Usually privately funded


Known Unknowns

• Can managerless succeed long-term?• What social changes might this entail?• Where are managers required?• Best practices?• Holacracy?


We

• We’re the ones doing this• We’re changing how business is being done• And we’re making things more fair


Summary

• Corporations == Feudalism 2.0• Agile reduces need for middle management• We don’t know what the future holds


Thank You