{"id":92320,"date":"2023-02-21T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T15:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=92320"},"modified":"2023-02-27T12:35:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T16:35:16","slug":"humanocracy-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/humanocracy-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanocracy: Book Overview & Key Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Want an overview of the Humanocracy<\/em> book by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini? What are the book’s key points and advice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their book Humanocracy<\/em>, authors Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini explore how organizations can\u2014and should\u2014ditch bureaucratic ideas about employee obedience and efficiency. They argue in favor of human-focused ideals like fostering employee innovation and inspiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a brief overview of Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini’s book Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In their book Humanocracy<\/em>, <\/em>Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini propose a new way to build and run organizations: using human-focused principles<\/em>, as opposed to bureaucratic principles like efficiency and employee obedience. The authors believe that, by doing so, companies can increase each employee\u2019s contributions and job satisfaction, thereby benefiting both the company and its workers.<\/strong> They call this type of organization a humanocracy to emphasize how different it is from bureaucracy; for clarity, this guide will refer to these organizations as human-focused companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gary Hamel<\/a> is a professional management consultant, author, and co-founder of the Management Lab<\/a>, which helps organizations implement Humanocracy\u2019s <\/em>principles. Management Lab co-founder Michele Zanini<\/a> is a professional author, speaker, and business consultant. Zanini is dedicated to tearing down what she sees as outdated bureaucratic business practices to replace them with human-focused business models. Combined, Hamel and Zanini brought over 50 years of management and leadership expertise in writing the Humanocracy<\/em> book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Human-Focused Company?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Hamel and Zanini, a human-focused company<\/a> is an organization that\u2019s designed to bring out and harness each employee\u2019s full creative potential, instead of forcing people into lockstep using rules and micromanagement<\/a>. In other words, a human-focused company optimizes <\/strong>people\u2019s contributions to the company<\/em><\/strong>, rather than just their obedience and their production numbers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the authors say the central belief behind a human-focused company is that each person\u2014regardless of role or job title\u2014deserves the chance to nurture their unique ideas<\/a> and creative gifts. <\/strong>Everyone has ideas that are worth exploring, and allowing them to do so could turn out to be more valuable to the company than forcing them to just carry out their official duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human-Focused Companies Empower Employees<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In their book Humanocracy<\/em>, the authors describe how human-focused companies encourage and empower employees<\/a> to solve problems on their own<\/strong>, instead of having them work through their supervisors and managers. Employees at human-focused companies take on tasks that aren\u2019t normally part of their jobs, make plans and carry them out, and even use company funds as needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human-Focused Companies Foster Accountability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Along with this empowerment, workers must take responsibility<\/a> for the outcomes of their ideas, whether good or bad.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors say that team members in a human-focused company must directly communicate with each other about their issues and intentions, and they must hold each other accountable for their actions and results. This creates a web of accountability, instead of the traditional pyramid of authority figures handing down decisions to the workers beneath them. That web creates stronger bonds among employees, fosters a sense of ownership<\/a> and pride in their work, and encourages teamwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why We Need Human-Focused Companies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hamel and Zanini say that human-focused companies are necessary because employees at traditional companies are bored, frustrated, and disillusioned<\/strong>\u2014in fact, only 15% of people currently feel engaged at work<\/a>. This widespread disengagement is bad for people and bad for business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Engage Employees<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In their book Humanocracy<\/em>, the authors further explain that, to solve the problem of disengaged and disillusioned employees, businesses need to completely change how they think about their workers. It\u2019s time to move away from seeing employees as mere resources and instead start seeing them as people with their own interests and ideas.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors add that business and leadership experts have known how to engage employees<\/a> for decades. People do their best work when they have the freedom <\/em>to explore and find their own answers, chances to grow <\/em>by learning <\/em>new things and taking on new challenges, a strong sense of connection <\/em>with their colleagues, and a mission <\/em>that they believe in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Aren\u2019t Machines<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to the authors, another reason why human-focused principles are so important is that human-focused companies use their resources\u2014that is to say, their employees\u2014more effectively than their bureaucratic counterparts. Bureaucracies try to optimize performance using rules and systems, as if improving the programming on a machine. However, Hamel and Zanini remind us that people aren\u2019t <\/em>machines\u2014trying to control and optimize everything they do is simply micromanagement, which leads to inefficiency and frustration among both workers and managers. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pyramid of Business Needs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Humanocracy<\/em>, to further clarify why the authors believe that human-focused companies are important, the book offers a hierarchy of principles that Hamel and Zanini believe every company needs to embody to be successful. The highest tiers of this hierarchy are human-focused principles that can only be achieved by human-focused companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Maslow\u2019s famous hierarchy of needs, Hamel and Zanini\u2019s pyramid of business needs<\/a> is one in which each tier supports the tiers above it; in other words, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. They say that the most successful companies are those that build all six tiers\u2014including the top, human-focused tiers\u2014into their business practices.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Humanocracy<\/em> book describes the six tiers in descending order of importance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n