Self-Organization and Strategy Development - Part 1

Part 1: If culture eats strategy for breakfast, self-organization invites strategy for lunch.

This article describes how we at Service Innovation Labs conducted our own strategy process through self-organization. As a company that lives self-organization, it was only logical to make strategy development participative as well.

The Context

Service Innovation Labs operates on principles of self-organization. That means: no classic hierarchies, distributed decision-making, transparent communication. But how do you develop a shared strategy in such an environment?

The Challenge

Strategy development is traditionally a top-down task. Management develops the strategy, which is then “communicated downward.” In a self-organized structure, this doesn’t work - here, strategy must be owned by everyone.

Our Approach

We developed a process that involves all team members:

• Shared situation analysis: Everyone contributes their perspective on where we stand
• Goal-setting workshops: The entire team participates in defining where we want to go
• Iterative development: Strategic measures evolve through rounds of feedback
• Transparent decision-making: Everyone can see how and why decisions are made

Why This Matters

When people help create the strategy, they don’t just understand it - they own it. Implementation becomes collaboration rather than compliance. Resistance becomes engagement.

Continued in Part 2…