This is a CTP of initiative: Impact Hub Vienna (Austria)
In 2013 the IH Vienna basically consisted of two organizations: Emersense (that ran the IH Vienna incubation centre) and the IH Vienna. Emersense was a successful energized organization while the IH was struggling. According to the interviewee the only way forward was merging these two entities into one: the IH Vienna. This led to a whole reorganization process. After the summer of 2013: “we started cleaning up our structure, we decided to go with this holocracy, we decided who we keep and who has to go and what do we need for this additional structure and what new structures to put in place, and role that out in 2013 and beginning 2014. Feb 2014 we already started with a new team and a new structure.. and then a new era in that sense started.”
In May/June 2013 two of the founders of IH Vienna went on a learning journey to Amsterdam. And on of the founders of the IH Amsterdam came to Vienna to facilitate a re-envisioning session. In Vienna the founders wanted to discuss matters like: “And how do you look at your members? Your members are not only the social entrepreneurs. How do you work with the community, how are you internally organized? What is the value of the space? What is the importance of growing the space etc. How do you look at it in the whole picture with the different elements, how do you see your role?”
The fact that IH Vienna was vulnerable at that time had to do with the fact that one of the three founders stepped into the global network of the Impact Hub which had a large impact leaving just two behind with the respondent also having another job. Parallel to that the interviewee had started with her own company a successful program (CTP1), the Incubation Centre. That contrasted very much with the IH Vienna which was down. These two events led to the urgency of merging the successful Incubation Centre and the vulnerable IH Vienna into one.
The contestation to the merging of the two organisations came from the Incubation Centre team members. It was about losing power, distribution of resources and dilution of ownership. Some of the contestation is solved, mainly through clarification.
Even though there was no legal merge of the two entities, Emersense holds a 10% share in the IH Vienna. Therefore the Emersense team had a lot of conversations going on whether it was the right thing to do. “Even if it was not a legal entity, it was a whole idea, it was a virtual entity. That needed a lot of conversations and it had certain elements of making sure that everyone from here [Impact Hub] became member of Emersense so they had power over IH through that position that you can control”.
Becoming a manager was not one of the ambitions of the interviewee. Learning in Amsterdam about Holacracy made it possible for her to become a manager in such a way that suits her: “Holacracy was a game changer. Without holacracy I think this would not have worked out” “From a manager perspective, it is practically. you are not going to lead a kindergarten. Or like a group of kids. You are dealing with grown ups who take care of their own job. And they are really entrepreneurial in that sense. Even if in the end of the day they are not.” “Now it gave a structure, it gave it a name, it gave it acknowledgement, it gave it legitimacy”.
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