Strengthen ownership – self-efficacy through genuine participation

From passive followership to active co-design. Give your team back what was lost during growth.

In the founding phase, every voice was present, every idea mattered, and everyone felt responsible. But as growth happens, something shifts: decisions are made ‘top down’, employees nod in agreement without being convinced. Good ideas remain unvoiced because 'it won't change anything anyway.' Mistakes are identified but no longer addressed. Learned helplessness spreads – not out of laziness, but out of resignation. Rhizome provides you with a system that structurally ingrains self-efficacy: employees experience that their contribution counts, becomes visible, and leads to better solutions.

This is how it works with Rhizome:

Being heard is not optional, but fundamental Not a symbolic 'We want your feedback', but a process that ensures relevant voices are included. Those affected can contribute – not as a favor, but as part of the decision-making process.

Contributions are visibly integrated People see what happens with their input. Objections are not overridden but constructively integrated. Those who bring up an idea experience in a comprehensible way how it improves the solution – or why it is not feasible.

Ownership arises from co-design When people can actively shape decisions, they identify with the outcome. Not because they are always right, but because they experience: 'My perspective was taken seriously. I helped shape this.'

Why this is important:

Most organizations lose self-efficacy not out of ill will, but through growth. What was a given in small teams – everyone contributes, all participate – becomes logistically impossible once 30, 50, or 100 people are involved. The leadership makes decisions 'for' the team because otherwise, it takes too long. Employees see decisions they believe are wrong but remain silent because there's no dedicated channel – or because they have learned that dissent changes nothing.

The result: Good ideas are lost because people have stopped voicing them. Mistakes are not prevented because no one bothers to counteract. Employees reduce their engagement to 'work to rule', not out of indifference, but because they have repeatedly experienced: 'It doesn't help.' This learned helplessness is poison for ownership, motivation and ultimately for the quality of your decisions.

Rhizome breaks this cycle structurally: The platform makes it possible to systematically involve relevant perspectives even among 50 or 100 people – without decisions taking months. People can express objections, contribute ideas, and make concerns transparent. And they experience in a comprehensible way that their contribution has an impact: Either their input is integrated, or they understand why not. This experience of self-efficacy – 'I made a difference' – is at the core of ownership.