Democratic organizing – a case study in managing without leaders

Abstract

Currently, we experience a renewed and increasing interest in democratic organization in relation to today‘s working life, both as a practice phenomenon and a fi eld of research. Hence, research literature points at the need for qualitative studies at a micro level to uncover concrete experiences with democratic forms of organization and management. This article contributes with such a study. The empirical outset is the consultancy fi rm Analyse & Tal, which in 2014 was established as an employee cooperative emphasizing co-ownership, equal pay and an ideal of a healthy work-life balance. The study is based on in-depth interviews with the majority of the co-owners as well as a number of workshops. The primary analytical insights are: 1) co-ownership is considered crucial to practicing democratic organizing, both at a strategic and operational level, 2) clear procedures and a strong narrative support distributed leadership and democratic practices, and 3) the idea of a good working life is closely associated with working time norms and equal pay, not only for the individual, but also as a proposed new agenda for society at large. These insights form the basis for discussing whether the stated values are decoupled in practice – as a possible critical aspect of democratic management and organizing.