_{Expanding on my last post about how self-organization is often blocked by leadership, not teams…}

A simple way I’ve explained self-organization to teams:

I’ll grab two people in front of a group and run a quick exercise.

Person 1 can give directions:

• “take 3 steps forward”
• “turn left”
• “take 2 steps”

Person 2 can only do exactly what they’re told.

The goal is simple:
Get from point A → out the door → to another room → and back.

We time it.

It’s slow. A lot of stop/start. Constant direction.

Then we reset.

Same goal.

But this time, Person 2 just… does it.

No step-by-step instruction. Just the outcome.

And it’s always faster.

Not because the person suddenly became more capable.

But because:

• they can adjust in real time
• they don’t have to wait for direction
• and they can solve small problems without escalation

It’s a simple exercise, but it makes the point pretty quickly:

If the goal is clear, most people don’t need to be told how to move every step of the way.

And when they are, it slows everything down.

This is what self-organization actually looks like in practice.

Not chaos.

Just people who understand the goal and have enough space to move toward it.

Self-organization usually isn’t blocked by the team.

It’s typically blocked by leadership.

Most teams, if you let them, will:

figure out how to divide the work
help each other out
and naturally rebalance over time

That’s where the real speed comes from.

Where it breaks down is when managers step in and start assigning work to the “best” person.

Usually driven by urgency.

“I need this done quickly, give it to X.”

It works in the moment.

But over time, it creates a pattern:

the same people get pulled into everything
others don’t get stretched
and the team never actually levels up

Now you don’t have a self-organizing team.

You have a few strong individuals carrying the system.

This is one of my most common go-to observations:

It’s rarely the team resisting self-organization.

It’s the surrounding leadership not letting go long enough for it to actually take hold.