“Patterns of Anarchy” is a collection of writings published in 1966. We should care about it as software professionals because a) Christopher Alexander quotes from it in “A Pattern Language” and b) it offers perspectives on different patterns of self-organizing what are increasingly relevant in a flow-and-team-topologies world.

This talk takes inspiration from the book section “Constructive Anarchism: Alternative Communities and Programs” that covers the how of anarchist organisation. I'll work through its key points, explaining what anarchist thought has to offer us, particularly in the world of socio-technical organisation design. I'll also mix in viewpoints and approaches from other anarchist ways of self-organizing.

At the end of it you'll have a greater awareness of alternatives to the top-down, hierarchical approaches that dominate everything we do in software. It might even help you unlock those high-performing teams you've been searching for so desperately.