The "Organization" is an entity created to express an Evolutionary Purpose. An Organization has assets that it controls and a clear border with the outside world.
The Organization, which corresponds to the deepest creative potential that it can express in a sustainable way in the world. The Evolutionary Purpose is the Purpose of the wider Circle of the Organizational Structure.) has an "Evolutionary Purpose", which corresponds to the deepest creative potential that it can express in a sustainable way in the world. The Evolutionary Purpose is the Purpose of the largest Circle of the Organizational Structure.
"Partners" are people who dedicate their time and energy to help the Organization express its Evolutionary Purpose.
While working for the Organization, Partners can identify a difference between the current reality and a potential that they perceive. These gaps, which can be identified problems or opportunities, are called "Creative Tensions", or simply "Tensions". Tensions move the Organization towards its Evolutionary Purpose.
As a Partner, you are responsible for addressing the Tensions you perceive, taking actions or engaging other Partners in these Meta-Agreements. You are also expected to ask for help when you don't know which paths to take. This responsibility cannot be transferred to third parties or to a group.
As a Partner, you are expected to share, when asked by other Partners, all relevant information about the work you do for the Organization, including your projects, identified actions, prioritization criteria and relevant metrics. When requested, you are also expected to provide estimates and projections of possible completion dates for your work, even if these projections should not be considered deadlines or commitments.
You can temporarily ignore these Meta-Agreements if this is useful and necessary to express the Evolutionary Purpose of the Organization. Initiatives or requests that have this quality are called "Heroic Acts". You should always seek to repair any damage caused after a Heroic Act, proposing changes in the Organizational Structure or even in these Meta-Agreements if necessary.
Partners can define a layer of agreements that establish expectations and limitations of authority between them. This layer, called "Organizational Structure", is organized in a hierarchy of Circles and formed by Roles and Policies. Each Circle governs its Organizational Structure, which can only be changed in Adapt Mode.
Partners perform work in one or more "Roles" explicitly defined in the Organizational Structure. A Role is defined by:
- A descriptive name;
- A "Purpose", which is an unattainable capacity, potential or objective that the Paper will pursue or express;
- Zero or more "Responsibilities", which are ongoing activities that other Partners can expect the Role to perform;
- Zero or more "Artifacts", which are assets that the Paper can exclusively control and regulate on behalf of the Organization.
"Energizing" refers to that which Partners devote their time and energy to, in order to express the Purpose of their Roles. To energize is not a component of the Organizational Structure, although it can determine how and under what conditions it occurs.
When pursuing the Role's Purpose that you energize, you are always allowed to take action. However, you must not impact the Artifacts defined in Roles that you do not energize or Circle Artifacts that you are not a Member of, without first obtaining explicit permission from the Responsible Partner. You must also observe the Policies defined in the Organizational Structure and follow the conditions established therein.
You can also refuse a request if there is no corresponding explicit accountability in the description of the Role being requested. Still, you must accept any requests that make sense for the Purpose of any of the Roles that you energize.
You may, at any time, stop energizing Roles in one or more Circles, unless you have agreed to do otherwise with the External Link or to another Energization process.
A "Circle" is a Role that has the authority to divide into smaller Roles, contained within itself. When a Role is transformed into a Circle, the Partners that energize it become the External Link of that Circle. Circles are defined exactly like Roles, that is, through the elements name, Purpose, Responsibilities and Artifacts.
A Circle can govern its own Roles and Restrictions, but it cannot change its own definition (purpose, responsibilities or artifacts), this must be done in the outer or external Circle that contains in it this inner or internal Circle.
A Circle cannot change the roles, Circles and Restrictions of an inner Circle directly. However, a Circle can perform some operations in Adapt Mode, such as moving Roles from itself to its internal Circles and vice versa.
When a Circle has Artifacts in its definition, only Members of the Circle and internal Circles can impact these Artifacts freely.
A Circle can specify one of its Artifacts as pertaining to a particular Role or Inner Circle. If this is done, that Artifact becomes exclusive to the Role or Inner Circle, until this delegation is undone.
Partners are considered "Members" of a given Circle when they meet at least one of the criteria below:
Energize at least one Role defined in the Circle;
Energize at least one of the Essential Roles in the Circle;
Energize the Role of External Link or Internal Link in at least one of the Circles internal to the Circle.
"Restrictions" are limitations of authority that apply to all Roles in a Circle. Restrictions are made up of a name and a description. Unless otherwise specified in its description, the effect of a Restriction applies to all Roles and Circles within the Circle where it is defined. A Restriction is part of a Circle, just like a Role or Inner Circle.
A Circle can establish priorities to guide the work of its Members. As a Circle Member, you must prioritize your work in alignment with the established guidelines.
Circle members regularly meet in what is called the "Circle Meeting" to perform one or more of the 4 special meeting "Modes" described in the following section: Review, Synchronize, Adapt and Care. Circle meetings are scheduled by the Secretary and facilitated by the Facilitator, two Essential Roles.
Partners who are not Circle Members cannot process tensions at Circle Meetings. However, Partners may be invited by a Circle Member to assist in processing a specific tension. In this case, the tension to be processed will still be considered by the Circle Member and not by the Partners.
Circle Meetings must start with a check-in round, where one at a time, each participant shares how he or she is. The Facilitator fills the meeting with one or more of the 4 Modes, according to the time available and the needs of the Circle. The Facilitator must declare the name, objective and clarify the rules of each Mode before starting it. The Circle Meetings end with a closing round, where one at a time, each participant shares a final reflection on the meeting.
The different Modes are used to process specific Tensions felt by Circle Members. Especially before Synchronizing and Adapting, the Facilitator should ask the Secretary to build a "List of Tensions" to be processed. Each Circle Member feeling a Tension must name it using two or three words. The Secretary then records the name of the Tension, along with the name of the Partner.
After the Tensions are listed, the Facilitator focuses on one Tension at a time. This means that the Facilitator should not allow other participants to attempt to include their perspectives in the Tension being processed, unless the participant who originally felt the Tension believes that perspective is useful.
When facilitating Modes, the Facilitator can make choices about which patterns to use and how to conduct each moment. However, the Facilitator must always keep his choices in line with the objective of the Mode and the needs of the Circle. A Circle may also adopt one or more Restriction that limits how the Modes are conducted. The Facilitator must respect these limitations.
If any Circle Member requests the Election of any of the Essential Elected Roles, the Facilitator must prioritize that Tension by addressing it before any other.
The "Review Mode" is a moment of the Circle Meeting whose objective is to give transparency to the work done by the Circle. It is up to the Facilitator to decide how specifically the Review Mode is conducted, unless a Restriction determines otherwise.
See the Patterns to Review in the Patterns Library
The "Synchronize Mode" is a moment of the Circle Meeting whose objective is to quickly process Tensions that do not require the Circle to update its Organizational Structure. Typical Sync Mode outputs include actions, projects, help requests and information sharing. The Facilitator should simply allow each participant who brought a Tension to engage others in their Roles until a path to resolve the Tension is identified. The Secretary records any requests accepted by other participants in their Roles or as Heroic Acts.
See the Patterns to Review in the Patterns Library
The "Adapt Mode" is a moment that occurs in Circle Meeting. The objective is to process Tensions related to the Organizational Structure of the Circle. The only valid and permissible outputs in Adapt Mode are:
- Add, remove or change Circle Roles;
- Add, remove or change Internal circles;
- Add, remove or change Circle Restrictions;
- Move your Roles, Restrictions or Inner Circles to an Inner Circle;
- Move Roles, Restrictions or Circles from an inner Circle to you;
- Transform your Roles into Inner Circles, and vice versa.
During Adapt Mode, the Facilitator must facilitate a process that allows the participant who brought the Tension, the "Proponent", to build a "Proposal" to resolve it. This Proposal must contain only the operations described as valid outputs from Adapt Mode.
The Proponent of a change in the Organizational Structure must be able to present examples of past or present situations where each part of the constructed Proposal would resolve or reduce the Tension. If the Facilitator considers that the Proponent was unable to provide examples and clarification, the Facilitator must discard the Proposal. However, the Facilitator should not judge the accuracy of the arguments presented, but rather if they have been presented with logical reasoning and are therefore plausible.
The Facilitator must allow each participant to have the opportunity to raise one or more "Objections" to the submitted Proposal. An Objection is one reason why the Proposal causes harm and moves the Circle backwards. The Facilitator can ask questions to help the "Objector" understand whether what he has brought is a "Valid Objection" or not.
An Objection to a Proposed Change in the Organizational Structure is considered valid if the Objector believes that it meets all of the following 4 criteria:
- Degradation. The Objection is about harm that Proposal could do to the Circle.
- Related to Roles. Objection affects one of the Objector's Roles in the Circle.
- Causality. This evil is caused by the Proposal, that is, it would not exist without it.
- Based on data. The Objection is based on current data or past experience, so it is not an anticipation of future events. However, if the alleged damage is so disastrous that the Circle would not be able to adapt in the future, then this criterion can be disregarded.
In validating Objections, the Facilitator should not judge the accuracy of the arguments presented, but only if they were presented with logical reasoning and are therefore plausible. Valid objections must be integrated.
If there are objections, the facilitator should facilitate a process for integrating them into the proposal, one at a time. The purpose of "Integration" is to modify the Proposal so that it resolves the original Tension, but without causing the objection raised. If the Proposal is changed, the Facilitator should provide another opportunity for participants to raise Objections. If a Proposal is taking a long time to integrate, the Facilitator can discard the Proposal entirely in order to move on to the next item on the List of Tensions.
Any participant may raise an Objection to "Breach of Meta-Agreements" if he or she considers that the Proposal violates one of the rules described in these Meta-Agreements. The Facilitator must then ask the Secretary to interpret whether this is true or not. This special Objection does not need to be validated against the criteria normally used, but it must be integrated like the others.
Changes to the Organizational Structure of the Circle may be proposed outside the Circle Meeting and are automatically approved if all Circle Members declare that they have no objection. If any Objection is raised or a participant declares that he / she would like to treat the Tension in a conventional manner, the Proposal should be escalated to Adapt Mode for a conventional Circle Meeting.See the Patterns Library
The "Caring Mode" is a moment of the Circle Meeting whose objective is to stimulate the presence and connection between the participants. This Mode should not be used to make changes to the Organizational Structure of the Circle or to engage Partners in their Roles and Responsibilities.
View Standards for Care in the Patterns Library
When requested by another Member of a Circle of which you are a member, you must prioritize attending the Circle Meeting rather than working on your Roles.
Each Circle contains "Essential Roles": The External Link, Internal Link, Facilitator and Secretary.
The Essential Role of Facilitator, Secretary a Lead Link are considered "Essential Elected Roles" and are energized using an election process.
4.1.1 Eligible Partners
All and only the Circle Members are eligible to energize the Essential Elected Roles. Even still, Partners that energize the Role of External Link can't energize the Roles of Facilitator or Internal Link in the same Circle.
Any Circle Member can solicit "Elections" for the Essential Elected Roles. The Election process is initially made by a simple majority to choose a person who will be nominated and then consent is used to effect the nomination. Each Circle Member has the right to just one vote. The Organizational Structure can define in what conditions the process should be facilitated.
The Essential Roles of each Circle can be changed, as long as the restrictions below are respected:
The name and Purpose of Essential Roles cannot be changed;
New Accountabilities and Artifacts cannot be added to the Role of the External Link;
Initial External Link Role Accountabilities and Artifacts can be modified or removed altogether, as long as they are delegated to another Role or process in the Circle;
The Initial Accountabilities and Artifacts of the Facilitator, Secretary and Internal Link Roles cannot be removed or modified;
Essential Roles cannot be removed.
Changes made to the Essential Roles of a Circle apply only to the Circle where the change occurred, that is, they do not extend to the internal Circles.
The External Link is responsible for inviting Partners to energize the Roles defined in the Circle, with the exception of Essential Roles. The External Link may invite any Partner, unless a Restriction says otherwise. A Restriction can also modify this process entirely, including removing the Accountability and corresponding Artifact from the External Link.
The Energization process can also define a "Focus" for the Partner who energizes a Role. The Focus is an area of activity in which the Purpose, Accountabilities and Artifacts of the Role apply only.
4.4 Energizing the External Link Role
The External Link is chosen by the External Circle, by the process used for Energizing Roles Defined in the external Circle. The External Link of the external circle must be determined by the same process that adopted these Meta-Agreements.
4.5 Facilitador
The role of the "Facilitator" has the following initial definition:
Purpose: Healthy Circle Meetings aligned with Meta-Agreements
Responsibilities:
- Facilitate Circle Meetings
4.6 Secretary
The role of the "Secretary" has the following initial definition:
Purpose: Clear Meta-Agreements and Organizational Structure of the Circle
Responsibilities:
- Schedule regular Circle Meetings
- Record requests and proposals made at Circle Meetings
- Interpret Meta-Agreements and Organizational Structure upon request
Artifacts:
- Records of the Organizational Structure of the Circle
The role of the "External Link" has the following initial definition:
Purpose: The Purpose of the Circle
Responsibilities:
- Structure the Circle to express its Purpose and meet the Accountabilities defined by the external Circle
- Invite Partners to energize Roles defined in the Circle
- Provide feedback to improve the match between Partner and Role, de-energizing when necessary
- Set priorities for the Circle
Artifacts:
- Energization of Roles defined in the Circle
The External Link holds all the Circle's non-delegated Accountabilities and Artifacts.
The role of the "Internal Link" has the following initial definition:
Purpose: The Purpose of the Circle
Accountabilities:
- Seek to understand Tensions brought on by Circle Members and process them where appropriate in the Outer Circle
- Provide visibility on the health of the Circle to the Outer Circle