The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance

by Jim Whitehurst, Gary Hamel (Foreword)

A blueprint for reinvention. Today’s leaders know that spped and agility are the keys to any company’s success, and yet many are frustrated that their organizations can’t move fast enough to stay competitive. The typical chain of command is too slow; internal resources are too limited; people are already executing beyond normal expectations. As the pace accelerates, how do you inspire people’s energy and creativity? How do you collaborate with customers, vendors, and partners to keep your organization on the cutting edge? What kind of organization matches the speed and complexity that businesses must master—and how do you build that organization?

Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, one of the world’s most revolutionary companies, shows how open principles of management—based on transparency, participation, and community—reinvent the organization for the fast-paced connected era. Whitehurst gives readers an insider’s look into how an open and innovative organizational model works. He shows how to leverage it to build community, respond quickly to opportunities, harness resources and talent both inside and outside the organization, and inspire, motivate, and empower people at all levels to act with accountability.

The Open Organization is a must-read for leaders struggling to adapt their management practices to the values of the digital and social age. Brimming with Whitehurst’s personal stories and candid advice for leading an open organization, as well as with instructive examples from employees and managers at Red Hat and companies such as Google, The Body Shop, and Whole Foods, this book provides the blueprint for reinventing your organization.

Genres: Business, Management, Leadership, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Cultural

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2015

Reviews

[Sankarshan]

If you've been with an organization for a significant duration, the perspective and understanding is often sharply different than what outsiders have. I've been at #RedHat for the greater part of 11 years and as is usually expected, faced the "How is it to work at Red Hat?" question a number of times.

The question is simple and perhaps the audience demands a pithy response. The truth is that such an answer is pretty much impossible to craft. How do you begin to explain a company that has as its mission statement the line "To be the catalyst in communities of customers, contributors, and partners creating better technology the open source way." (cf. https://redhat.sc.hodesdigital.com/li...) ?

Anyway, the point is, that to an extent, the "What is Red Hat and how is it" side of the question was often answered through innovations in technology, spectacular work in upstream communities and good solid hard work. In some form, the absence of a canon, so to speak, enabled a lot of commentators to write about the company and shape the narrative. While reading through Jim Whitehurst's book (cf. http://www.amazon.com/Open-Organizati...) I realized that this would perhaps be the first step in developing the narrative from the perspective of an insider. And including the points of view of individuals I've seen, known or, met within the company. And that's why it is a great read.

Any narrative about Red Hat tends to work around the theme of "enterprise open source company" with typical emphasis on the "open source" parts of how things might work. While this is largely true, the very notion that an agile organization structure can be created drawing upon the fundamental principles is something this book provides a number of citations about. It is not easy work and the surprises which Jim tripped into are well narrated. The part I did like is eschewing the "Red Hat is special" construct of an argument. Instead, it draws upon numerous experiments (successful and failures), conversations, incidents to demonstrate that there are a set of basic guidelines which emerge. A template which can be consciously or, deliberately adopted.

The principle that leadership can and will emerge often from the unlikeliest instances and individuals can come together to make a difference is a powerful one. That arc is a strong complement to the values of the company as well as the singular aspect of an open source community - collaboration. The book does well to curate and collate such instances which the (non-RHT) readers can relate well to. But, for the associates (and alumni) there are daily reminders of such events and the fact that this is "just how we get things done".

The book weaves in the values (Freedom, Courage, Commitment, Accountability) as a practice and provides the scaffolding to the various decisions which have been made by Jim and his leadership team. However, the part I like most is that it provides a basis to create a well thought answer to the "How is it like to work there?" question. And with the material being generally available, the top tier talent seeking to join the company will have a well defined perspective to their choice. That's a fantastic thing!

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had been hoping for more detail, although some interesting stories, any references to problems or resolutions too high level to give any practical understanding

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start with the disclaimer that I was a Red Hat employee and Jim, who is Red Hat's CEO distributed the book to those who wanted to read it and I was one of those people.

I liked reading the book. The reason for that is the same reason of why I work(ed) at Red Hat: I am an Open Source fan and wanted to see how a company based on Open source works in the real world.
I think most people interested in open source will find the book interesting and informative. Maybe no mind blowing things will be unfolded for them (I can't say I found out something unexpected reading it). But it would be fun to read.

However this brings me to the first downside of the book and its topic: it has a rather select audience. I would say that the main public will be the open source enthusiasts, even if the target is way broader. The way it's written can be accessible to the average person and I would like that everyone would read the book in order to understand open source companies and dismiss the current view that Microsoft, Oracle and Apple are the representatives of IT... however I am not optimistic that somebody outside the ecosystem will learn of the book's existence.

Being in Red Hat was an unique experience and one of the reasons I started reading the book is to see if it presents the reality. And am I glad to say that the contents are very accurate. The book is honest and transparent and I think any Red Hat employee can confirm that.

But there is one thing that kind of bothered me: the book focused too much on the positive sides and almost no mention of the down sides. Even if there are a couple of paragraphs that specifically say that an Open Organization is by no means the silver bullet, my over all feel was that it tries sells the idea too much. Which make the book seems more of an ad for Red Hat and Open Source rather than an objective analysis of how Open Source applies to companies. In the book there are many examples of open source principals applied in other companies (even non-IT ones), but still, it's hard to not put Red Hat in center focus. Even if I like to promote Open Source (I do that constantly my self), I would have liked to have seen more impartiality in the book.

Overall I liked reading it, it was fun and I would recommend it. It's a very very short read (it tool me 6 months to go through it just because I read a couple of hours every 2-3 months).

[Schmacko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book on moving from autocratic leadership to open, inspiring, and communal leadership. It uses the idea of open sourcing. The reason this book separates itself from others is that there is a lot here that can be used to motivate free agency and meritocracy.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Read

So many nuggets. For all of the information that I want to reject, I know that those are the exact principles that I need to practice implementing. Looking forward to sharing this one.

[Lukasz Nalepa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, inspirational book about different way organisations could work. Despite some concrete advice on what to do and how to act as a leader, in the end I still got the feeling that the book was fairly high-level one and rather inspirational than step-by-step guide. That was ok for me, as this line of thinking and reasoning that Jim presented in his book, is not far off from my personal values. I imagine though, that some might be a bit disappointed.
In his book Jim explains how to thrive in an open organisation, but not necessarily how to build one, nor how to effectively pull the culture in that direction in the first place. That is understandable, as it is him who changed his ways of working by entering the open organisation that was already build in that blueprint in mind. Yet again - for those of us who are looking to grow such culture first I think the book was too superficial for that purpose.

[Nabil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about the COO of Delta, moving to become the CEO of Red Hat. It's a short read, that tells the story of a different type of org.

It's like a practical guide on how to deal with open organisations.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Whitehurst, as Chief Operating Officer of Delta Airlines, created and fostered a team of employees based upon personal and collective input, collaboration and sacrifice. After taking over the operations helm at Delta, he was faced with keeping the airline afloat and employees/unions secure while fighting off a huge corporate takeover by a competing airline. He did this through a policy of open communication, complete transparency and by treating every single employee like “they mattered” regardless of their title or position. Pay cuts across the board, including his personal salary, an increase in working days and a general tightening of the belt, not only allowed Delta to stave off the competition, but restored profitability to the airline and even restored pay levels, work hours and operating conditions to previous levels. All without layoffs or restructuring. These actions not only saved the airline and garnered the respect of all his employees, but got the attention of RedHat, the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT products and services, who, at the time, was looking for a Chief Executive Officer.

Whitehurst knew something was different about RedHat, even during the interview process. He arrived in North Carolina, the home of their corporate headquarters, on a Sunday morning to closed offices and no one to meet him. The cab that he would want to return to leaves, and the recruiter pulls up in a car. They proceeded to drive around looking for a place to have coffee. The recruiter didn’t want to talk about his accomplishments, but more about who he was. Afterwards, he met the previous CEO, present at the time, for lunch. After both meetings, he had successfully secured the position and the check at both locations. Interestingly, neither of the individuals he had met with had any cash on hand at the time. This would be the beginning of an entirely new experience for him.

Although Whitehurst had built an “Open Organization” during his time at Delta, he did so against the grain and within the confines of a standard corporate structure. At RedHat he would be tasked with continuing their “Open” structure while recreating himself to fit within the ideals of his new home. This began with the Meritocratic structure of RedHat. The book describes this type of organization as, “A system of government or other administration (such as business administration) wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their ‘merits’, namely intelligence, credentials, and education.” In other words, everyone has a chance to be heard, but it’s those that “earn” their place, that get listened to. Throughout the book, he makes the distinction between thermostats and thermometers. Those who set the temperature and those who tell you what the temperature is. If you look at your department and examine the true influence makers within, how many of them carry a title associated with their ability to operate as a thermostat? Furthermore, how many people with the title are truly operating as a thermometer? In a meritocracy, this division of ability and title would never exist.

RedHat as a company is driven by passion. Employees within the organization all see themselves as part of the pulse of company and no one questions their worth or value. They just operate within it. The carrot that drives them is not financial gain, albeit with Whitehurst at the helm, RedHat has more than doubled its profits. What drives them is their ability to be the difference that sets themselves apart from other companies, especially tech companies. RedHat employees don’t just come to work, they operate in their purpose. Whitehurst writes that purpose is the primary reason that RedHatters work harder and the company has less turnover than the industry average.

Perhaps one of the greatest secrets to RedHat’s success as an Open Organization is the collaborative culture that exists there. This culture is based on the four values of Freedom, Courage, Commitment and Accountability. Think of these values as being balanced on a scale. You need people to operate in their freedom, but not so much that it takes away from their accountability. You want people who are committed, but not imprisoned and having the ability to be driven by their courage. These values set the stage for true passion to exist. But true passion can be explosive. It does allow for tensions to rise. Whitehurst describes this as a ship that is being rocked by the wind. Too much lean to one side or the other can cause the ship to capsize, but proper “offsets” will right the ship in any wind. Interestingly enough, passion drives both sides of that equation, the wind and the offset. Whitehurst writes, “Many see a highly collaborative culture as a supportive, positive environment where people encourage each other with positive reinforcement. Actually, RedHat is anything but that. It is very supportive and collaborative, but in a very different way. We debate, we argue, and we complain. In many ways, it can seem harsh. But iron sharpens iron, and we’ve come to embrace the notion of letting the sparks fly.”

Ignition is the result of a controlled explosion of fuel, air and fire. Whitehurst takes the time to highlight a number of RedHat employees who operate at the “ignition” level of passion and performance throughout the book. He speaks of his own transformation from being a “suit” to being reintroduced to his tech roots. He draws upon his time at Delta as well as publically acknowledging other corporations that, like him and RedHat, have adopted openness as a mantra and used it to drive passion and performance in the company. Finally, he offers suggestions for incorporating these philosophies into organizations that don’t operate with such meritocracy. The Open Organization is a testimony to the greatness of his RedHat team of which he describes himself as inclusive within. In a sense, Whitehurst has penned a thank you letter to his employees in which he publicly acknowledges, “look what we have done together.”

[Mike Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased since I work for the company, so a review likely isn't appropriate.

[Denis Vasilev · Rating 1 out of 5]

Редкая по бестолковости книжка. Нет свежих идей. Неуместные истории из работы в Delta Airlines. Все мысли очень вторичны, ничего практического не нашел

[Justin Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I knew some very surface level information about Red Hat as an open source software provider before picking up this book, I was drawn to it by the interesting career path Jim Whitehurst has travelled to become the CEO of Red Hat in 2007. With this book published in 2015, the story has continued to evolve with IBM's acquisition of Red Hat in July 2019 and Jim Whitehurst announcing his departure from the company two years later. Prior to joining Red Hat he spent a decade at the Boston Consulting Group (including earning his MBA from Harvard Business School). His time at Delta Airlines was marked by his period as Chief Operating Officer overseeing the restructuring of the company. From those traditional business experiences, he describes the substantial shift to Red Hat's dramatically different culture which he credits explaining that Red Hat is a company that emerged from a pure bottom-up culture based on the open source ethos and grew to execute it at scale. I appreciate that he emphasizes the importance of trusting people to do things right and to allow teammates to make their own decisions with Red Hat's business model dependent upon collaboration and shared ideas. He certainly bought into the culture with Red Hat becoming the first billion-dollar Linux company in 2012 and then they became the first two billion-dollar Linux company in 2016. This is a fascinating look into how Red Hat developed a culture that leads to engaged employees who are passionate about their product, a community of users who are supported that provide a remarkable feedback loop to the company, and how a traditional business leader came to believe in a system diametrically opposite to the centralized enterprise he helped manage through restructuring.

[Demetris Cheatham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, for writing a book about the working environment that calls to my true nature! Within the 200 pages of The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance, he was able to define the seemingly nontraditional and unorthodox management style that I’ve utilized throughout my career. There are no hierarchies, the best ideas win, processes and structure are frowned upon and you are in charge of your own executive buy in. No matter where you fall within the org chart, your advice on the toughest business challenges are solicited and valued.

This book will also provide some comforting guidance to my friends who have been having difficulties at startup and (relatively) young IT companies. When navigating new positions, they often describe the environment as chaotic, inefficient or the wild, wild west. Now you have a manual that describes the method to this madness.

This is a good read as I believe that more and more organizations will start adopting aspects of this management style because the millenials, Gen Z and beyond entering the workforce are demanding it. If you will be managing or quite frankly, trying to succeed in a corporate environment, then you definitely should read The Open Organization.

Full disclosure and why I chose to read this book: I am in the interviewing process for a position at Red Hat. Over the past three months, I have been meeting with various current and former employees to learn more about the company, its products and culture. This book was recommended to me by a VP to gain valuable insight into the organization. Would I have come across this book otherwise? Maybe not, but I am so glad it was suggested that I read it. Not because it will be beneficial to my upcoming interviews but because this book helped make sense of how I operate as a manager and transformational leader in professional and volunteer roles.

[Jordi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 Stars

This book took way longer than it needed to be. It's only 200 pages and I spent almost 12 months to finish it. So why did it take me this long? TL;DR The book didn't engage me. It had a few interesting points for sure, but my expectations were grounded in understanding Red Hat's culture better, understanding how the company operates and how it works together. But as I kept reading, it felt like I was reading a story about a company named Red Hat that no longer looks or works the same way as the Red Hat of 2022.

This is a book that explains how Red Hat makes decisions, or rather made decisions back in 2015, and how it organizes and works for success. Mostly it deals with defining the decision making strategies using a collaborative approach (the open source way), rather than a top down-small group decision making that is so common in sizeable enterprises.

This book excels in highlighting some of the key team motivators that I've read in other books, which falls into the simple idea of asking for feedback and letting others get involved in the project or in the task ahead, rather than just tell them what needs to be done and work from there on. Make everyone involved part of the solution, basically.

It's a great approach and I'm convinced it is the right way to lead.

The main problem with the book is that the Red Hat that is described there is no longer the Red Hat of 2022 or even 2021. It has mutated to become more top-down corporate where a small group makes decisions and they are communicated to the rest of the company to be followed and endorsed. Many of the people that were the culture stewards at Red Hat back in 2015 are no longer working there. This can probably be blamed to the IBM acquisition back in 2018 in part, and the things that are changing can be simply explained as policy alignments between IBM and its subsidiaries (Red Hat in this case). The cultures between both companies are not compatible entirely, and IBM's is slowly making grounds over Red Hat's.

It's still a good book and I liked it, but its ideas are no longer represented at Red Hat.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My reason for reading this book was to learn more about the Red Hat organizational culture as I’m a current job applicant. I was pleasantly surprised by how many real examples about employees, internal terminology, systems and internal projects were shared. Also impressed by Whitehurst’s sharing of his own learning journey, missteps and revelations. As he stated himself, he’s not an academic, and he wrote the book to more broadly share why the open source / participative leadership approach, with meritocracy at its core, is so valuable in modern organizations where the speed of change is perpetual. In my own experience working at more traditional, hierarchical and conventional companies, that leadership style and organizational culture is quite rare. While Whitehurst provides tips at the end of each chapter, and sprinkles in good analogies throughout, it’s still quite difficult for most people to incorporate what he’s advocating. Egos, traditions, burnout, lack of EQ are just some of the barriers. That said, I appreciate the openness of the book and examples of how other organizations utilize similar concepts. He also referenced many books and contemporary leaders. I will try to remember the OODA loop example he shared and the successful Swarm approach that came from an internal leader. His tips on what competencies are crucial include patience, high EQ, personal strength and growth mindset are helpful.

[Charvak Patel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up reading this book at 65%. Now based on that you pretty much know where this review is going.
- This is a self-help book, not a management book. Lack of case studies, lack of direct actions, or data to support what one is saying and refer to the next point.
- This is not a critical analysis. It is a sales pitch for going open.
- This review is not a review of Redhat but this book.

This could have been a wonderful article for HBR. But the writer decides to write a book about it. Many management and self-help books face this. They get repetitive.

Let me demonstrate. Do this: Read this book to some pages where you get the sense of what he is trying to say. Then flip any number of pages forward, and read a question that the write possesses. You will mostly know what he will say.

The lack of direct action is very subtle. The thing is, you could be doing all the things he prescribes a leader and fails to achieve. Why? cause people are a huge factor. If you have team of a-holes then you could be doing all of this and it wouldn't matter. No discussions about this because this is not critical about the concept.

In the end, nothing he says is out of ordinary. This is all known even if you don't read many management books ( another feature of self-help book ).

I would suggest you find a good summary of this book and save the pain.

[Douglas Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical management of a collaborative organization

Hundreds of authors have generated thousands of books urging leaders to move beyond hierarchical forms. They all assure us that we will feel much better about ourselves if we do but few of them offer any suggestions for how this will actually work. This book is the exception, providing some insights into the actual management approaches used in collaboration at scale. Jim Whitehurst is also unapologetic about the fact that this is no simple recipe: the balance between enough communication and too much debate is a very precarious position requiring constant vigilance and fine-tuning. It does take the better part of a full-length book to explain convincingly that such an approach is sustainable at all, so my main regret is that there is not enough space to go into more detail as to how it works on a day-to-day basis.

[Cezary Zminkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, showing the vision where you might want to be with your organization if you do things right as servant leader with self organized fully engaged teams and individuals. A lot of similarity with book "Creativity Inc" where Creativity is about Pixar vs Disney culture differences between two organizations one fully Agile an the other fully corporate, same Open Organization book compares RedHat culture with AirLine corporate culture.

worth reading but same like Creativity Inc and few other books. Gives you better understanding of "keep in mind end state" when you are trying to make a change and impact.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly full of good leadership advice - a book that advocates looking down, not up — in order to be successful. The CEO of Red Hat discusses employee engagement, peer-to-peer management, taking time to listen to what’s needed/wanted, and the need to focus more on caring for people than achievement. Other gems of wisdom include: 1) technology doesn’t drive engagement, leaders do; 2) take care of people and they’ll take care of you, but don’t coddle - enforce accountability; 3) lavishly spoiling employees isn’t engaging, engaging is engaging; 4) if you hire someone to do a job, they’ll work for the money - if you hire people who believe in your organization, they will further it.

[María Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sitting on the airport waiting for my mom as I write this review.

I really liked this book, it felt real, sincere and it was fucking inspiring.

Many things left me happy about this book, two in particular:
1) I'm taking a promising path in my career
2) The company I work at, and specially my team, have many important characteristics that are mentioned throughout this book and I admit it's part of what fuels my monday to friday life there.

A big and secret shoutout to my boss for being "the open source" way without planning to and for being so fucking authentical. Thank you for all those "random tasks" you assign me that always lead to more knowledge.

[Atif Shaikh]

Not read yet.
Notes for self:
Found it in a presentation by DKAN
https://docs.google.com/presentation/...

"“An ‘open organization’—which I define as an organization that engages participative communities both inside and out—responds to opportunities more quickly, has access to resources and talent outside the organization, and inspires, motivates, and empowers people at all levels to act with accountability. The beauty of an open organization is that it's not about pedaling harder, but about tapping into new sources of power both inside and outside to keep pace with all the fast-moving changes in your environment.”"

[Mario Sailer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is quite inspiring, but not very concrete. Jim Whitehurst talks a lot about what they to and why they do it at Red Hat, but when it comes to how they do it, he pretty much stays on the surface.

And, in my opinion there is a little flaw in the book, which I have to address as a German. He seems to confuse the OODA loop from John Boyd (the depiction of which resembles more the PDCA-Cycle form William Edwards Deming in the book) with the strategy process that Helmut von Molke developed for the Prussian Army based on Carl von Clausewitz theories.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a glimpse in the future of people management and innovating. In this ever-changing, insanely fast evolving world, centralizing the decision-making and problem-solving only in a few people won't help organizations to keep up. Red Hats's principles of management empowers their employees and engages them into working and thinking together towards success.

I know by experience it's not easy to follow these open source values and thinking, but it's definitely worth trying and the results can be seen immediately.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The timing of this read felt particularly relevant as the company I work for is moving towards a more open and collaborative culture. Silos and strictly top-down hierarchies slow down organizations and prevent the kind of innovation that comes from cross-functional collaboration. I appreciated the author's insight on how to unlock passion and how to inspire motivated employees with a strong shared vision. I think it's a worth while read for any company that wants to be more agile and develop a collaborative culture.

[Carlos Martínez Gadea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has cleared my path towards the foundation of my current project to a level I never expected before. The way it deals with team work, management, vision of a company, monetization and personal fulfillment (for the people involved in a project) it's simply brilliant.

I appreciate as well the transparency that infuses the author on the way he talks about all the previous topics. He is very honest and that is an aptitude that not many people have and which is very well needed (IMHO).

[Mostafa Hashem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very unique and different mgmt and leadership book, what is so special that its not only a book of new theories but it includes real life examples coming from Jim’s experience in leading Red Hat and also he includes many other examples other than Red Hat as a proof that this open , collaborative Bottom up mgmt styles actually works!

I just joined Red Hat 6 Months ago, and reading this book gave the excellent culture and Mgmt introduction to this amazing company

[Nathaniel Inman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written by the former CEO of Red Hat prior to their acquisition by IBM. Most of the book describes how the life and culture at Red Hat is so dissimilar to other technology companies due to their prevalence of meritocracy vs typical top-down decision making hierarchies. This culture stems from their roots in open source software. Most of the book is fluff and stories for fun, but there are a few key points at the end if each chapter.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read. I wish my leadership in all of my precious employers had understood the concepts here, and enabled my team to accomplish everything that we could have. We would have accomplished far more this way than in our limited and constricting environments, and retained the good people longer.

[Hector · Rating 2 out of 5]

Red Hat has a unique and possibly revolutionary business model, enabled by new forms of technology and organization. If you are looking for a deep dive into how they pull this off you’re unfortunately going to have to write it yourself, or find some good blogs. If on he other hand you want a fluffy feel good piece of drivel about the magical properties of open source software, eat your heart out.

[Tom Boonen]

Interesting open explanation on how Jim whitehurst experienced the unique red hat culture of an open source community that generates real customer value at a fraction of the cost of traditional software companies.