I wish that you would unlock that article. The first tidbit sounds intriguing. I'm calling total and complete bullshit on "self-organizing." Self-organization as a biology construct (which they keep mentioning here) has as much to do with corporate structure as social darwinism has to do with actual natural selection. One has to make a choice with one's structure, and no structure is also a choice, albeit probably a really bad one. Self-organization arises in biology due to thermodynamics. Self-organization in the corporate world sounds like a recipe for bullies controlling everyone. Even if it isn't, there's not much worse than corporate assholes co-opting science for their self serving social interests (even though they're totally beyond ego, dude). And anyway, who says that ant colonies, being self organized, don't have a hierarchy? A drone will always sacrifice herself in service of the colony. Is that what Tony Hsieh wants? If he didn't have an ego I suspect so. I'm trying hard not to sit in judgement of this system, because I've only read a few articles about it, so my knowledge is limited. But as a scientist, the language sounds like eugenics all over again. Maybe I'm wrong. However, I can't see myself ever working at a "teal" firm, as bad as working for a boss can seem sometimes.
My two favorite workplace maxims: Work expands to fit available time; and, Workers are promoted until they are no longer competent (aka the Peter Principle). That's a great summation of my opinions of corporate hierarchy, even if it's not accurate as a reflection of individual people I know and work with within that hierarchy.
FWIW, this is pretty close to Valve's company design, and from what I've heard, most employees there are pretty happy with the workplace. Though I think it does take a lot of pruning of potential hires to find people who work well in that model.Self-organization in the corporate world sounds like a recipe for bullies controlling everyone. Even if it isn't, there's not much worse than corporate assholes co-opting science for their self serving social interests (even though they're totally beyond ego, dude).
A) They have like 300 employees who are all focused on game development, and B) They definitely do have some dissenters. Point A is probably the most salient, as dissenters abound in every organization.
Anecdotal evidence, I have some second / third connections in Valve and I'm yet to hear a bad thing about working there. I've also heard the only way is recommendations from people already working there.