How Mayden made it work

Can a software company operate in a self-managing way? Surely that is going to result in chaos!? All those techies hobbying away on their own ideas, working from home, or hiding behind their headphones. Before you know if you have at best spaghetti software, or at worst a global blue-screen event (like the one that was caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, last weekend.)

It turns out, it can work really rather well. Software company Mayden, based in Bath (UK), has been developing and supporting administrative systems for mental health service providers since 2008. Fifteen years on, it is a thriving company with about 100 people and c. ￡10m turnover. And running on principles and practices of self-management. Why? How? It is all described in their book ‘Made without Managers – One company’s story of creating a self-managing workplace’. Self-written by Team Mayden, of course.

Origin

This is a story about a young software company that saw a need and opportunity for a web-based platform for patient records in the mental health sector. Part One of the book spends a little bit of time on that background, and how it started out as a traditional, hierarchical company. Fairly quickly it adopted scrum, a so-called agile software development framework to focus on delivering projects quickly and effectively. (Traditional software development used to take ages and often delivered products that didn’t quite do what they were supposed to, not least because client requirements had moved on since the specification stage. Agile development delivers small chunks of functionality with heavy client involvement, and is therefore much quicker and more responsive). What Mayden struggled with, was the question how to maintain the right culture as it grew. And what that right culture should be. A moment of reflection led the top team to decide on an experiment to do away with their layer of middle-management and adopt self-managing principles. How hard could it be? Turns out, pretty hard! Early employee surveys showed worst-ever engagement, and someone wrote: We need MORE MANAGERS! Ouch.

The key lessons from this early stage can be summarised as follows:

You should really only embark on self-management if you believe it is a better mechanism for achieving your organisation’s purpose. Luckily Mayden was pretty firm on that one. Work with staff clarified what that purpose really was, and how that translated in real-life situations (as opposed to a single catchy yet meaningless phrase).

Also, if you leave everyone to figure out for themselves what self-management means, chaos and frustration will ensue. Some expert help on the journey will help, and as you deconstruct your hierarchical way of working a new framework needs to replace it. At Mayden they call it their scaffolding.

Founder Chris May explains what led him to embrace the experiment. He accepts that human operations will always be both unique and messy: most people (but not all) would like autonomy in their work; most (not all) are perfectly capable of managing work themselves; most (not all) would thrive autonomously at work given the right conditions; and most (not all) are able to design their work environment to create those conditions.

Ultimately, he and his team try to create a workplace where employees are treated like the adults they are and enjoy conditions where they can bring their best work.

Although we almost invariably accept hierarchies as the default, Chris points out numerous problems with the command and control paradigm, such as: the iceberg of ignorance, information hugging, stifling talent, managerial costs, and the Peter principle. Why not, then, explore an alternative way? One that fits the company’s ethos better, and avoids those problems.

The book goes on to explore how to replace the power and control mechanisms that typical hierarchies provide. On closer inspection, much of that is about ‘trust’. The underlying assumption in many traditional organisations is that people cannot be trusted. Could Mayden turn that on its head and choose to organise on the basis that people generally CAN be trusted? It meant, for instance, organising for the majority (not the exception), maintaining a no-blame, learning culture, making sure that success is shared, being focused on the long-term and embracing that people are different and changeable. It also meant gathering data and evidence to assess the organisation’s performance to help the learning process.

What role did agile working play in all this? My personal experience has been more with operational organisations exploring self-management for their teams. In a software company, where teams are less static, and employees are often part of multiple teams, how would that work? At Mayden, they believe that the scrum method has helped them gain confidence that small, team-based decision-making and accountability works. Being empowered to do what is right for the client and for the company, take initiative and responsibility, undoubtedly fits with well self-management. As one of the Mayden team explains, building trust in the team is essential, as is setting aside time to improve as a team, so that it becomes part of the culture. Other key ingredients? Treat each other as equals. Being empowered to act (don’t moan, do something!). And a mindset from ‘me’ to ‘we’.

Scaffolding

Part 2 of the book is dedicated to the nuts and bolts of what makes self-management at Mayden work on a day-to-day basis. This is what they refer to as the scaffolding.

Underpinning this are Mayden’s values (Forward thinking, Transparency, Collaboration, Contribution) and how they are understood and lived by everyone. It quickly moves on to what it means to, in Mayden’s parlance, manage the work not the people. Without managers, a lot of ‘managerial’ responsibilities get redistributed. At Mayden, that has required figuring out how to set (strategic) priorities, how to share and distribute information (and how not to drown in it), how to make decisions (answer: by those who own the work, using a 7-step framework), how to give and receive feedback, etc. Does that mean there is no organisational structure? There is, but at Mayden it is more working group (i.e. function) based than a hierarchy based on power. Does that mean that the organisation is leaderless? Team Mayden argues that it is leaderful. Leadership behaviours are asked from everyone, and the directors (Mayden does have four of those) have created the space for everyone to step into their leadership role when the situation calls for it.

What about cost control? It will come as no surprise that Mayden does not do traditional budgeting. By focusing on income, it believes that expenditure will take care of itself. And so it proves to be. Of course, the organisation sets itself (a few) targets and ratios. It empowers staff to do the right thing. It monitors and shares information at regular intervals. And acts if and when necessary.

So, no managers then. What about other roles? The book describes the importance the organisation attaches to internal coaches, who work with individuals and teams. Everyone at Mayden has the opportunity to work with a coach, though some make more active use of it than others. There are still four directors. Apart from their roles and responsibilities as determined by law, they are charged with setting direction and expectations. And then they are supposed to get out of the way, while seeking assurance that the business is delivering.

Have Mayden done away with HR? Actually, there is still an important role for HR at Mayden. However, its focus is on providing advice and support. After all, employing 100-plus staff is no trivial matter, and there are important matters to be done correctly. As with all other aspects of the scaffolding, Mayden has asked itself critical questions about what these HR functions mean in their context. And redefined where necessary. For instance, on how recruitment takes place or how flexible working is supported.

Chapter Twelve is dedicated to the career aspects of working in a flat organisation like Mayden. How do you provide career progression, and opportunities for salary increase? How do you do performance reviews? These are often-raised questions in the context of self-managing organisations. Again, Mayden has addressed this in considered ways. Progression and learning & development is very much a personal thing. Even job titles are left to the person (they carry little weight internally but can be important for the outside world). Mayden hasn’t gone as far as having salaries set by staff themselves though. That remains in the hands of the directors and continues to be work-in-progress.

The final chapter in this section deals with accountability. Again, one of those important questions often raised: who is to blame when things go wrong. Here, Mayden’s no-blame culture is explained, and how this doesn’t mean a lack of curiosity or accountability. Rigorous reviews take place when things go wrong, but with the aim to learn and fix things as quickly as possible. Not being afraid of being made ‘the fall guy’ is hugely helpful in this regard. As one staff member says: Team members tend to run towards problems, not away from them.

The book also touches upon performance management and measurement, and highlights the subtle but important difference between collecting lots of data on performance, but setting a limited number of Objectives and Key Results. This ensures that medium to long term goals are prioritised over short term financial targets.

The Journey

The Third and final section of the book is about the lessons to be learnt from the Mayden experience. The writers reiterate repeatedly that each self-management journey is highly context-driven, and therefore learnings from Mayden have only relative value for other companies. Yet, they acknowledge that inspired readers may want to go on their own journey, and may benefit from the wisdom gained by Team Mayden. Some of the key recommendations involve setting up a core team, that keeps the momentum and the eye on the prize, while going through this inevitably messy process of discovery. Ownership is key, so better to develop your own mediocre solution than to seek a ‘best practice’ that doesn’t fit.

Other good advice: don’t travel alone; there are plenty of like-minded organisations out there, and people who can provide support. And don’t forget to have fun as well as getting stuff done. You will have your ups and downs, so make time to enjoy the ride.

Any organisation is always in flux in one way or another. For a self-managing organisation that is no different, and it will be fascinating to see where Mayden will be in a few years’ time. Team Mayden clearly believe the journey so far has been worth it.

My verdict

This book is a fascinating account of Mayden’s ambition, highs and lows, values and practices, and the pros and cons – for them – of working as and in a self-managing organisation. I really liked the candour with which the book has been written. And how the large number of contributors reflect the collectiveness of the company and its diversity of experiences and perspectives.

Many of the observations and lessons-learnt chime with my own. Yet it still taught me plenty of new things. And it reiterated, for me, that freeing up the determination and passion of the people in the organisation will lead to solutions that work, even if it takes a little while for them to emerge.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to know more about how self-management can work. It is an easy, pacey read, and the personal stories that interlace the businessy bits keep it grounded and relatable. It offers of plenty of practical advice and ends with lists of recommended reading and helpful resources. Of which Trust Works is one, of course ??.

Made without Managers – One company’s story of creating a self-managing workplace, is published by Right Book Press (2023). ISBN: 978-1-912300-50-1

Trust Works is now taking registrations for its Moving Towards Self-Management programme, in which all aspects of empowerment and autonomous working are explored. Find out more here.