The language of organisations that think clearly

An autopoietic system creates itself: it is in perpetual renewal and its regeneration is autonomous.

Accountability is the ability to take responsibility for a specific task.

Antifragile describes an organism, person, idea, or system that improves when it is disrupted.

The term Agile originates from a project-focused software development methodology.

Beyond Budgeting holds that forecasts are inherently biased, because any fixed projection system instantly renders forecasts obsolete.

The role of a circle rep is to carry the voice of their circle within the parent circle.

The role of a Circle Lead is to enable their circle to make progress toward its purpose.

Cybernetics is the study of the interactions within a system and of the triggers behind these actions.

Choosing by consent means that you can make a decision as long as no objection is raised.

Choosing by consensus means that you can only make a decision once everyone supports the proposal.

Change management encompasses everything put in place to help an organisation carry out a major change.

Design thinking is a creative strategy used to solve problems. It begins with empathy for the end user, followed by ideation, prototyping and testing.

Authority is distributed in an organisation when several people are able to make decisions.

Employee retention is an organisation's ability to keep its talent and prevent them from leaving.

To empower someone is to give them the authority to make a decision and act.

Employee engagement measures how motivated employees are to contribute to the success of their team and their organisation. Low engagement generally leads to poor performance.

A flat organisation has few or no intermediate levels of management.

Feedback is essential to the growth and development of the organisation. It enables employees to improve their performance, which benefits both the individual and the organisation.

A facilitator is a person who ensures that meetings are inclusive and productive.

A governance meeting is used to discuss decisions that impact the roles or policies of the organisation.

Governance is the set of processes used by leaders to manage a group of people.

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a productivity management system designed to organise the surrounding chaos.

Holacracy is a collaborative governance model that positions itself as an alternative to the traditional hierarchical pyramid model.

A consent-based decision process makes it possible to validate a decision as soon as no one has any objections.

Kanban is a visual method of organising work that divides the workflow into three main categories - to do, in progress, done - in order to improve processes continuously.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable values set to evaluate the success of a project or objective.

Lean Startup is a market research method based on testing, measuring and iterating from feedback.

Lean Management is a methodology that aims to optimise production by minimising waste.

LeSS is a project management framework for software development. It complements the Scrum methodology by facilitating the coordination of multiple Scrum teams working on a single product.

Management 3.0 emphasizes collaboration between employees, managers and leaders through dialogue and sharing.

Management consists of coordinating people, tasks and information to achieve specific objectives that are important to the organisation.

New Work redistributes individuals' time into three thirds: traditional work, intelligent or self-sufficient production, and personal fulfilment.

Resilient organisations foster proactivity to prevent risks arising from internal and external changes.

The OKR (Objectives and Key Results) methodology makes it possible to align individual, team and organisational objectives.

A psychologically safe environment allows individuals to be themselves without fear.

A purpose is an inspiring motivation that explains why and how we act.

The Quaker method of governance rests on a shared purpose, consensus and the absence of hierarchy.

Responsive organisations adapt quickly to unexpected obstacles and opportunities.

Systems theory studies how each part of a system contributes to forming a complex whole.

Spiral Dynamics is a psychological model that explains individual behaviours within organisations.

Sociocracy is a collaborative governance model that offers an alternative to traditional hierarchy.

Self-organised teams get their work done without authoritarian supervision.

In a holacratic or sociocratic organisation, each circle elects a secretary responsible for taking notes and publishing the minutes.

A scrum master helps a Scrum team apply the Scrum methodology and the defined processes.

The Scrum method is an empirical, dynamic, and participatory approach to project management.

SAFe is a project management methodology for software development that accelerates decision-making while reducing risk.

Self-organisation is the idea that systems can emerge and evolve without explicit external intervention.

The systemic approach to management views the organisation as the sum of its internal interactions.

The social-organic approach focuses on an organisation's impact and on collective well-being.

Self-actualisation is the idea that humans are motivated by a fundamental desire to fully realise their potential.

High-performing companies practice five disciplines: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking.

A transformation is a process that consists in changing the organisational culture to achieve a specific objective.

Taylorism methodically reorganises work by breaking down and optimising tasks.

A tactical meeting follows a specific structure to move operational projects forward.

VUCA describes the uncertain and unpredictable business world in which companies operate today.

A system is considered viable when it survives autonomously in a changing environment thanks to its capacity for adaptation.

An organisation that encourages wholeness allows individuals to be fully themselves.