Ep027 - Michael DeAngelo, Holacracy One

Streams of Progress

We had a chance to sit with Michael De Angelo from Holacracy One.

Michael is an experienced business leader with C-level executive experience in different industries including healthcare, entertainment, technology, and natural resources. Starting as a Computer Scientist for the US Department of the Interior he moved on to lead technology teams at the Walt Disney company and eventually become the Deputy CIO for the State of Washington where he led the first large scale implementation of Holacracy in Government in the world. He also partnered with Harvard Business School researchers and others to lead the first controlled experiment of Holacracy.

Now at HolacracyOne, he is helping businesses around the world think through the executive challenges of driving this level of change in their organizations. When he’s not helping organizations with self-management concepts he’s working with self-organizing honeybees as an avid beekeeper.

We explored what Holacracy is, how it is being implemented in the private and public sector across the globe and we explored how organizations here, in the UAE, that are using it to transform their organizations.

Enjoy the show!

Show Notes:

• 02:30 - Michael’s background
• 03:30 - Introduction to complex technologies at Disney and it’s internet divisions in the early years
• 04:45 - Working in small teams at Disney
• 11:45 - On hierarchal systems
• 14:30 - His introduction to Holacracy
• 16:00 - Competing for talent in an already crowded tech space
• 21:15 - Googling “What is Holacracy?” and a 2 minute video animation
• 23:30 - What is Holacracy?
• 25:00 - The Morning Star example
• 27:00 - What does Holacracy One do?
• 33:30 - Companies and industries that practice Holacracy
• 35:15 - Self management hitting a tipping point around the time Zappos came out about it
• 37:00 - Dubai Knowledge a practitioner of Holacracy as a government agency
• 44:30 - What does Michael’s typical work day look like?
• 48:30 - The ‘no title’ business card
• 53:30 - ‘Follow my energy’ work scheduling & prioritization
• 54:00 - The right to ask anyone else when
• 55:30 - His ‘non-habit’ routine that he’s adapting to
• 58:30 - From fictional and non-fictional role models
• 63:00 - His morbidly motivational message on a billboard
• 66:15 - His concerns about the time-travel paradox and giving advice to his 20 year old self
• 68:00 - Michael’s personal purpose in life
• 68:30 - Nurturing insatiable curiosity
• 69:45 - “Don’t lose your momentum as you age, ramp it up as you have more experience and wisdom to solve more complex problems when you are older”

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