#10 Structured Freedom
How self-organizing beyond hierarchy strengthens multi-stakeholder collaboration
In recent years, countless collaborations have emerged to address major societal challenges—climate, poverty, health, and biodiversity. No single organisation can address these issues alone. Working together is both logical and urgently necessary. Working collaboratively is also required, since it doesn’t make sense for any single person/organization to be ‘top-down-in-charge’ in a hierarchical way in such multi-stakeholder situations.
Yet over time, many collaborations lose momentum. Progress slows. Coordination consumes enormous time. Results fall short.
People start saying, “We’re doing a lot, but are we actually achieving anything?” The collaboration begins to feel non-committal.
At the same time, becoming more results-driven can feel uncomfortable. Committing more explicitly can raise concerns (“Are we giving up our autonomy?”). Addressing others directly about accountability can feel risky (“What if it harms relationships?”).
Self-organizing helps move beyond non-commitment
The good news: there are simple, concrete and proven practices that make collaboration both more robust and more humane. They come from the field of Self-Managing Organizations/Self-Managing Teams which work in new ways together and is often referred to as Self-Organizing Beyond Hierarchy; beyond the conventional top-down management hierarchy. Not abstract ideals, but practical methods proven in a wide range of organisations.
These practices help surface what is already happening beneath the surface. When distrust is present, or when agreements are not functioning, this becomes visible—without becoming personal. Non-commitment naturally fades, and a mature, adult-to-adult way of working emerges: the foundation for real impact.
And sometimes it becomes clear that collaboration is not the best option. When partners structurally lack trust, avoid addressing one another, or pursue goals that diverge too far, ending the collaboration can be wiser than continuing out of habit. Better early clarity than prolonged frustration.
Example 1 — Distributed leadership and working with explicit roles
A coalition of civil society organisations that are committed to sustainability decided to join forces. A promising idea—yet practice proved challenging. Meetings ran over time, decisions were postponed, and everyone wanted to contribute to every topic. Energy drained away.
Using guidance based on self-organizing principles, the group began working with explicit roles directly tied to the shared purpose of the collaboration.
Clear roles were defined—for example, roles for: Movement-Building, Advocacy, Meeting Facilitation, Website Management, Finance, and representing the member organisations—each with specific expectations and a clear mandate.
All participants now hold one or more roles. In meetings, everyone states explicitly from which role they are speaking. This makes meetings and conversations more concrete and shorter. There are also clear agreements on how roles can be continually adapted as needed. Within those boundaries, people actually gain—and take—more autonomy to act entrepreneurially.
The result: shorter, more effective meetings, renewed focus and energy, and tangible progress toward shared goals.
Example 2 — Tension-driven improvement
A partnership among government, education, and business supports entrepreneurs working in the circular economy. An evaluation revealed that entrepreneurs were receiving fragmented support, and collaboration between partners remained strained. Each organisation worked hard—but in its own way.
The parties decided to start working with the principle of tension-driven improvement, another common practice used in self-managing teams.
A tension is not something negative, but rather a signal: there is a gap between how things are now and how they could be better.
Participants learned to articulate their tensions — not about others, but from their own role:
“We’re asking entrepreneurs the same questions twice.”
“I need a shared intake process.”
“I get stuck because I don’t know who has decision-making authority.”
“I find it difficult to involve other organisations in my case.”
Starting with these concrete, real-life tensions, the group made one small, achievable agreement at a time to improve collaboration—and reviewed each step quickly. Step by step, trust grew.
Beyond non-commitment—yes, it is possible
Moving beyond non-committal collaboration is not rocket science. It does, however, require practice: unlearning old habits and learning new ones.
And—although counterintuitive—it is precisely structural elements from the world of self-organizing, such as clear roles, explicit expectations, and regular rhythms, that surface and address tensions, bringing collaboration to life.
These forms of structure do not create rigidity; they create safety, trust, and focus. People know where they stand, feel empowered to take responsibility, and experience renewed energy to contribute to the shared purpose.
Step by step, the culture everyone longs for begins to emerge: mature, grounded, reliable—beyond non-commitment. With real impact.
Contribute to The Beyond Hierarchy Project crowd-sourced book: Let us know what works & what doesn’t. And conduct your own experiment.
