Hi Michael,

“One interesting effect of this dynamic I believe could be quite common is that through differentiating the interpersonal from the organizational so definitively, Holacracy actually amplifies the felt-sense of interpersonal tensions.”

That’s an interesting perspective that hasn’t occurred to me so far. So far, I don’t have data (anectdotal or otherwise) that would support that hypothesis though. But I’ll keep looking and let you know.

I would say this: differentiating the organizational from the interpersonal dimension certainly highlights the need for covering the latter space as well.

If there are interpersonal tensions that are amplified by Holacracy, I suspect that most of them would have been latent prior to implementation. The Holacracy ruleset might drag them into the light though. Not sure that Holacracy would cause them directly.

It’s more like a tool, like a knife. You can dissect a lot with it, but be careful how you use it. If the surgeon fucks up, I would not put the blame on the scalpel.

In other words, if we hand out scalpels to people, we better give them the corresponding medical (i.e. interpersonal) training / support along with it.

That’s why at my other company, Hypoport, we use Language of Spaces as an accompanying framework to help people sort their the organizational from their inter-/personal tensions and support them with personal coaching, mediation, etc.

It’s just that the 4 Quadrants belong together. Human and organizational are two sides of the same coin. Progress in one dimension will affect the other side and vice versa.