Self-organization is one of the fundamental aspects of agile organizations. Yet it is a challenge and there are lots of myths around it. Some people say: "With self-organization, I lose control totally". Others are happy as they think "Wow! This means I can all do it my way". The truth is - of course - somewhere in the middle: self-organization is still a form of organization. That means, that all essential problems, that organizations need to cope with, need to be also coped with in organizational eco-systems that are stronger based on self-organization. But how? And to what extent? And how to achieve a good balance between the essential organizational needs of alignment and autonomy. In this talk we will de-mystify and look at the key ingredients of self-organization. Based on my 20 years of SW development leadership experience at Ericsson, one of the world's largest SW companies with more than 20,000 Developers, I will share what we have discussed, experimented and learned in this area.
