Post #3528735

2026-04-16 13:01 UTC

Organisational Dysfunction of the Day Quiet quitting Context: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many things were exacerbated in the population, including how people feel about work. A major trend in America was referred to as the Great Resignation, in which many cited the quality of work as a reason for leaving. Another trend that surfaced about the same time was Quiet Quitting, where employees who are fulfilling their job requirements, but not taking initiative, working overtime or volunteering for extra projects or responsibilities. In short, people are not engaged at work, something the Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report confirms, saying that only 20% of are engaged and 16% are actively disengaged. So not only are sick leaves and absenteeism a problem; when people are at work, just a small minority are actually enjoying it. OST explains: The reason for these dreadful numbers drops right out of OST and all the research it builds on since the 1950s. Given that the extrinsic motivators for work are satisfactory, such as security, work hours, and pay, the defining reasons for people enjoying work are how well their intrinsic motivators are being fulfilled. A minimal set of six psychological job requirements is the basis and they measure how well a job design works, be it the processes, the technology, the organisation, or the colleagues. If people score well on things like ownership, learning on the job, variety, support and respect, meaningfulness, and career path, they will not only enjoy work, be engaged and produce better results; they will also get a better quality of life. #OpenSystemsTheory #SocioTechnical #OrgDesign #agile

Replies (1)

@trondhjort@hachyderm.io 2026-04-17 16:09

Organisational Dysfunction of the Day Team leads Context: Most teams in modern agile organisations may not formally have a manager in the same sense as before. Many still have someone they report to as an employee, dealing with yearly reviews, career development, and any job issues, but they are not formally involved in the daily work. It should therefore be possible to have leaderless teams, where all members are peers and have the same say in everything. No ranking. Still, many teams end up being appointed a team lead, often because the organisation wants one contact point and one person in charge of the work done. Many in this position try to deal with this dissonance by taking on a coaching type role, seeing themselves as a "servant leader," giving space to the team and protecting them from the outside. Some even try to switch, being directive sometimes, supportive at other times (aka situational leadership). Not only is this a tricky job to have, but it also creates so much confusion in the team about who really decides and is in charge. OST explains: DP1-type organisations require personal leadership positions, as that is how control, coordination and alignment are managed. Agile tries to counter that for efficiency, having teams take more control of the work, in an attempt to shorten the feedback loop and the learning. This is similar to DP2, with self-organising teams, while adding team leaders is not and is an attempt to adapt them to the existing bureaucratic DP1 model. The problem with this is that DP1 and DP2 fit together like oil and water; they are fundamentally so different that no matter how good the adapters are, they will lead to confusion and operational problems. You can remove the need for this adapter by ditching DP1, having teams everywhere and letting them take responsibility for their own goals and the integration needed to work with other teams. Teams may decide to appoint a leader, though, for their own needs, either permanently or when needed, but it is not a formal position of power. It is a participative democracy through and through. #OpenSystemsTheory #SocioTechnical #OrgDesign #agile

Open ##3528734