stop there – it provides a tangible path to a new paradigm for cross-organization governance capable of artfully addressing the massive challenges our world faces today. Holacracy structures an organization as a fractal “holarchy” of self-organizing teams (“circles”). Each has a scope it governs and a purpose it pursues, and crafts its own policies and structure to best reach that aim. Circles are interconnected – each is linked to a broader circle by two individuals who take part in the governance of both connected circles. One of these links is appointed by the circle governing the broader scope (akin to a traditional manager), and the other is appointed by the sub-circle via an election process. This creates bidirectional control and feedback systems embedded in a fractal, self-organizing structure – much like our natural world. Most modern organizations complement their artificial structure with a predict-and-control management paradigm – it’s like riding a bicycle by pointing at your destination off in the distance, holding the handlebars rigid, and then closing your eyes and pedaling. To thrive in today’s world, organizations must follow a more organic process. Holacracy shifts us from predict-and-control to sense-and-respond – it helps our organizations make decisions rapidly and incrementally, while adapting continuously along the journey. Holacracy also dramatically shifts the role of people within an organization. Via a novel decision-making process and overarching system, Holacracy distributes governance throughout the organization and gives everyone a key voice. At the same time, its unique approach facilitates rapid, focused, and highly effective decision-making, removing much of the drama and politics we’re used to. Find out more at www.holacracy.org.

Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

Holacracy was pioneered in a real-world software company between 2001 and 2006. Brian Robertson, pioneer of Holacracy, began sharing his company’s newly created approach in 2006 via articles and speaking engagements around the world. Based on a groundswell of interest he then launched a new organization, HolacracyOne, to help catalyze the Holacracy movement, and recently left his software company to focus on Holacracy full-time.

Today, in just over two years since its public debut, Holacracy has become an international movement with a strong grassroots spread. Almost a thousand people across six continents have been trained in the method, and 45 of them have completed an advanced training and certification program enabling them to support companies adopting Holacracy. There are over a dozen organizations known to be using Holacracy, and dozens more currently moving towards it, including companies small, large, private, public, for-profit, and non-profit. We’ve also seen a first-step towards the broader social vision for Holacracy emerging, as several organizations using Holacracy are now linking together into a cross-organization governance meshwork.

Looking forward, HolacracyOne will continue to catalyze the movement by publishing and conducting trainings, while offering software and tools to support organizations using Holacracy. To reach new companies, we will continue to inspire and train qualified consultants, so they can take Holacracy to their clients. This is a key aspect of HolacracyOne’s strategy – rather than market Holacracy directly to organizations, HolacracyOne focuses on finding professional consultants and change agents, and empowering them to spread Holacracy as a solution to real-world business challenges. This has significantly amplified the reach and spread of the Holacracy movement. This award will greatly accelerate HolacracyOne’s efforts by enabling more outreach across the world than would otherwise be possible.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

Holacracy presents an opportunity to transform our world by fundamentally evolving the way our organizations function and are structured; it is bold and visionary.

For a single company, Holacracy is a platform to shift from a command-and-control, machine-like design to a more organic approach, while improving effectiveness and generating better results. It offers a tangible alternative to a purely shareholder-driven model, and the resulting transparency, agility, and social responsibility are profound.

For our world, Holacracy offers a tangible structure and process for organizations to interconnect and govern shared contexts. As this meshwork grows it becomes a new model for societal governance, and enhances our ability to act as a coordinated and cohesive whole to address global challenges. It is comprehensive and anticipatory.

Holacracy is verifiable; it is real. And it is feasible for world transformation – it simply overlays our current paradigms, eventually making them obsolete.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

HolacracyOne’s two founders bring a wealth of experience and have already propelled Holacracy onto the world stage – articles about Holacracy have appeared in publications across the globe, including prominently in the Wall Street Journal (April 23, 2007, page B1). More specifically:

Brian Robertson founded Ternary Software in 2001, where Holacracy was first pioneered, and led the company as CEO for seven years. During his tenure he built the firm into an award-winning company: Ternary has earned local recognition as one of the region’s fastest-growing private companies and best places to work, as well as an award for its local environmental stewardship, along with two international awards, for being one of the most democratic workplaces and for nurturing the full human spirit at work (both due to Holacracy).

Tom Thomison serves as CEO of HolacracyOne, and brings over 20 years of extensive entrepreneurial and professional experience. Mr. Thomison has carried responsibilities spanning most aspects of business; he has founded three companies, one of which was sold in a public transaction, and has helped grow several startup organizations. In addition to his direct business leadership experience, Mr. Thomison has served as a management consultant to small, medium, and Fortune-class businesses.