Sociocracy 3.0: The Business Novella That Gets the Best Out of People and Organisations

by Jef Cumps

Manual for resilient, innovative and humane organizations New model explained through an accessible story form and illuminating visuals The author is an expert, business coach and trainer in modern management theories Due to its strong growth, HRS Company has run into problems. Decisions are made too slowly, communication is poor, and team spirit has hit rock bottom. In short, HRS has become a sluggish organization. As its newly appointed CEO, Kris has to put the company back on its feet. But how do you transform an organization and truly make it future-proof? This book introduces the Sociocracy 3.0 framework as a practical guide to creating agile and meaningful organizations. Sociocracy 3.0 provides a toolkit for any company that seeks to work more consciously and effectively on the basis of equality, collective intelligence and a flexible organizational structure.

Genres: Business

220 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2019

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelezen met het oog op een mogelijke implementering van deze S3-technieken bij de coördinatie, de werking en de groeipijnen van onze recent opgerichte ervaringsgerichte Feinetscholengroep. Het is natuurlijk een businessmodel, wat de vraag doet rijzen in hoeverre het aanpasbaar en werkbaar kan zijn voor onze specifieke samenstelling en organisatie.

Los daarvan - en los van de ietwat al te vlot bedachte, geforceerde omschrijving 'businessnovelle' - wordt hier via geslaagde storytelling met enkele eenvoudige, welgeplaatste schema's, een helder en uitgebreid beeld geschetst van hoe sociocratie 3.0 in elkaar zit en functioneert. Jef Cumps schreef een heel menselijk, empathisch verhaal, waarin ruimte gelaten wordt voor zinvolle of zingevende details en zijpaadjes. De zogenaamde do's & don'ts worden als het ware ervaringsgericht aangetoond, waardoor ze beter blijven hangen dan als items in een handleiding.

Kortom: geslaagde smaakmaker om er verder mee aan de slag te gaan.

[Roel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Licht te lezen en zeer inspirerend. Het verhaal is heel evident en zelfs grotendeels voorspelbaar, maar dit is een zeer aangename manier om sociocratie te ontdekken

[Evert Penninckx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather generously giving 5 stars because I’m a big fan of the format.

This is a very clear and concise way to get an introduction to the S3 principles and some of it’s patterns. I’m convinced that these ideas are helping us to move to more modern organisation structures, less bureaucratic and with people at the center.
Thanks to the novelle format, I immediately saw a way to apply these principles into my work context, something you won’t find when you just look at the S3 website.

After reading the book, I just had to reach out to Jef: we had a great call on the book, s3 and organisations. Thanks Bernie ;)

[Steven De Landtsheer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains a way (methodology) to introduce a self steering way of working into a traditional company (what ever that means). Using a fictional story to explain and educate your audience has been applied in several books, so it's not novel but I find it does work very well to get the reader aquainted with the transition to sociocracy. I've read other books on self steering and I find the biggest strength in this book to be the pragmatic approach on making this transition as well as the ability to adapt to the specifics of your own organisation or scale. At the same time the book also managed to annoy me by depicting a company with a sub-par management team and childish discussions. That is of course the pitfall of constructing a story to prove a point. The tone of the conversations is also at times belitteling to people which doesn't help. Although these things annoyed me, it does remain one of the best books on self steering I have read. That is important as I am convinced the future will be a lot more self steering than it is today.

[Kitty Iding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, clear context which makes understanding the patterns the focus. Very useable for organizations starting with S3, good reminder for those who already started.

[Hannamari · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I expected more. This book did work as a brief introduction into some ”patterns” or methods of Sociocracy 3.0, a methodology for creating agile, resilient organisations at scale, but failed to quench my thirst for knowledge on the topic. The novel format was easy to read but turned an interesting topic into a lukewarm mix that was neither a good novel nor a sharp informative package.

Nevertheless, I will likely use this book to look up some of the patterns it discussed when opportunity to use them arises.

[Angina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm torn about this book. On the one hand, I found it extremely useful, even inspiring, in how it explains the concepts of Sociocracy 3.0 in practical use. At the same time, I found the writing extremely cringy. The characters are not humans but cliché clusters, and the dialogue makes me want to scratch my eyes out.

So heed this warning: do NOT read this fictional book as fiction. However, if you want to know more about Sociocracy 3.0 and understand what it can look like in the workplace, you will find this book very helpful, perhaps even captivating.

[Vincent Vanderheeren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast and pleasant read that lets you experience a very familiar context. I read the book to better understand what S3 is all about and the book gave me more than that. Its not just about explaining some patterns or best practices, it digs deeper and gets you to understand the principles on a more profound level. I still reflect on myself in my behaviour questioning whether I could consider it Artful Participation.

[Ralph Roosmalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book and do recommend it to people who want to know more about S3.

The story itself is not that interesting. Company in problems, S3 is there to save the company with guidance of an experienced S3 facilitator. Happy end.

However, I do like how Jef is explaining some of the patterns of S3. Clear and understandable language.

Too bad it is only available in Dutch.

[Toni Tassani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A business novel used to explain Sociocracy 3.0, with all the classic ingredients if business novels: a challenging work problem, a supporting partner, an expert, ...
There are a few useful things through the pages and it is an easy read. I didn't like the hard focus on software and the relationship with the expert.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written book which introduces the idea of sociocracy, and shows how the concepts and a few key patterns can play out in real life.

As a functional analyst in an agile software team, it inspires me to start using the patterns to facilitate meetings and decision-making.

[Nicolas Leroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een mooie inleiding tot sociocratie. Het boek leest vlot, je wil er ook meer over ontdekken. Het verhaal van de transformatie loopt me net iets te vlot. Al is de bedoeling vooral het uitleggen van sociocratie en wat de voordelen kunnen zijn. Bedankt Jef!

[Geert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading. Well explained.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heerlijk hoe Jef de theorie verpakt in een mooi en spannend verhaal. Uit de herkenbare situaties haal je tips die je onmiddellijk kunt toepassen.

[Iwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book to understand S3, Sociocracy 3.0.

It's a business novel in the lines of The Goal and The Phoenix Project.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wat te mooi is om waar te zijn, is meestal niet waar. Niettemin worden een aantal praktijken of patronen beschreven die wel degelijk hun waarde hebben bewezen.

[Serge Huybrechts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical business novel, but a great book to understand more about Sociocracy 3.0. Reads like a train!

[Jan-Paul Ouwerkerk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een boek dat handige tools aanreikt om je organisatie op een andere manier te organiseren.

[Oliver Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gute Einführung in S3 - verpackt als Geschichte