by Niels Pflaeging
In 2025, two years after we rebootet the BetaCodex movement’s membership model, our community’s new setup bore full fruit. We published five strong and highly diverse research papers throughout the year. And topped up the year with a new Beta book, honoring the great Taiichi Ohno of Toyota Production System fame. Current BetaCodex research projects aim at expanding the scope of the Beta universe even further, in 2026. Time orientation will remain a key focus in the next 12 months.
First, let’s first take a look at the things we jointly achieved in 2025. Most notably, we were able to increase the number of published BetaCodex research papers from 21 to 26, which makes 2025 the most productive year in the network’s publishing history, apart from its founding year, 2008.
The Agile movement continued its decline in 2025, while the overall management community appeared conceptually stuck, with little energy for revitalization visible on the horizon. The BetaCodex movement has been pressing forward, though. Time orientation has probably been the most powerful new theme in our research in 2025, with two of our research papers and a book of quotes contributing to the topic.
The BetaCodex Network hasn’t just been about research in the past year, though. Another Red42 client from the tech industry achieved Beta transformation, celebrating the Go Live of its decentralized Cell Structure Design in October 2025. Bayer Bitterfeld, a 500-people company that’s part of Bayer Group) reaped first results from the Beta transformation it undertook with us in 2024. Other Red42 consulting clients, like Pradtke, were able to deepen their decentralized organizational models during the year.
BetaCodex research papers published in 2025
Relative Targets: Patterns in Practice (#22). 12 real-world insights from the application of rationally designed and scientifically sound performance systems
The first new paper of 2025 brought a long-overdue update on performance systems concepts and practice. Relative Targets became an open source social technology in its own right, in 2021. Since the creation of Red42, Silke Hermann and I have consistently applied the Relative Targets principles and approaches in our consulting work with clients, alongside the concepts of Cell Structure Design. The insights gained from our consulting practice led us to advance the concepts of relative performance a great deal, compared to my earlier works on the topic from the 2000s. The new paper unites 12 fresh patterns that Silke and I identified during the years. All patterns are meticulously described, with the bare minimum of text required. We believe this paper is not just valuable update on research around contemporary performance systems beyond the command-and-control practices that are still conceived as standard. But also a highly practical, highly potent resource for any company that wishes to overcome command-and-control performance systems.
Deming in Japan, 1950-1965 (#23)
From the first seminar in Tokyo to Toyota’s victory at the Deming Prize
Our 2nd research paper in 2025 was different than any paper of ours before it: Consisting mainly of photos from the archives of the Deming Institute, Deming in Japan 1950-1965 depicted Beta pioneer and Quality Management überguru W. Edwards Deming in a way he was never seen before: A man in his best years – shown in full color thanks to A.I. photo editing. This paper doesn’t merely show lush photos, though. It depicts the story of how Deming influenced the Japanese economic turnaround, right after WWII, and how, within a time frame of 15 years, Japanese Deming’s thinking aided companies like Toyota to take the lead in both cost and quality. Carefully edited comments to the photos add context and allow the reader to fully appreciate Deming’s work during the 1950s and 1960s in full. The paper followed up on the What would Deming do? book of quotes I edited in 2023, and the work was authorized by the Deming Institute. I hope that this research will one day lead to the publication of a full-fledged book about Deming’s work during that crucial period of history in Japan.
Slave to the Rhythm: Adopt Time-Oriented Work Systems. Now (#24). For flow and high performance, combine time-oriented, lean production approaches with coherent decentralization
This paper honors the seminar work of four pioneers of Time-orientation: Taiichi Ohno (Toyota Production System, TPS), Ernst Weichselbaum (Weichselbaum System), Ian F Glenday (Lean RFS) and Rajan Suri (Quick Response Manufacturing, QRM). This research traces to roots of Time-Oriented Work Systems to Toyota and TPS. It brings together core aspects of the “Big Three” approaches (Weichselbaum System, Lean RFS and QRM), combined with selection of original quotes and concepts, especially the crucial theories on Time orientation discovered by Ernst Weichselbaum. In addition, this paper compares the Big Three approaches, and highlights suitabilities in different contexts and organizational types.
Slave to the Rhythm marks the breakthrough of BetaCodex research into the fields of industry, manufacturing (small or large-scale) and Lean. By identifying Time-orientation as the key ingredient to flow, punctuality, rhythm and effective self-organization in production and industrial companies, the Time-Oriented Work Systems research offers a glimpse of hope for the Lean movement, and for all those who feel that manufacturing deserves better than batch processing, centralized steering and technocratic process management.
OpenSpace DEV: OpenSpace in change and transformation (#25).
To serve as a cornerstone of organizational development, the world’s most powerful large-group method needs retrofitting
Silke Hermann and I authored this paper together, after some debate on whether the necessary reinvention of OpenSpace Technology was a worthy topic of research for the BetaCodex Network. We ultimately agreed that it was. In our work, we had for 15 years deployed OpenSpace with consulting clients, but always modifying it to make it fit for the 21st century: We used web tools for session-generation, ahead of the OpenSpace. We created new boundaries and concepts to make the OpenSpace meetings shorter, more impactful and more focused. With the development of OpenSpace Beta, in 2018, we took the concept of OpenSpace for the purpose of organizational development and transformation even further, adding crucial features such as the Prep Day. With this paper, we honor the pioneering work around OpenSpace by Harrison Owen and Daniel Mezick, while at the same time turning OpenSpace DEV into a social technology in its own right, with its own open source license.
Introducing Time-Oriented Software Development (#26).
Bringing flow and the structure of time to agile software development – beyond Scrum, Kanban and Lean
The 2nd breakthrough research project on Time-orientation of the year turned its attention from manufacturing to software development, presenting the brand new TOSD approach. I authored this paper together with Pradtke CTO Sebastian Kubsch. At the time of the paper’s publication, in October, TOSD became the 5th BetaCodex social technology, after OpenSpace Beta, Cell Structure Design, Relative Targets, and OpenSpace DEV. TOSD suggests a radical departure from the well-known capacity-oriented takes on software development, like Waterfall, Scrum, Kanban or frameworks for Agile Scaling. Our research showed that TOSD is the first Time oriented approach to software development ever suggested. We expect project management and Agile professionals alike to wake up to the challenge and the potential of Time orientation in software development at some point in 2026.
Even though the paper only has 28 pages, it goes deep into the history of Time orientation, it highlights the crucial distinction between Time orientation and Capacity orientation, and outlines all key concepts of TOSD, which include the concept of the OK Point, the distinction between Conceptualization and Realization, the importance of time-boxing and fixed time-boxes for Realization, handling of The List, and so on.
The 3rd volume of the What would XXX do? series appeared
No review of 2025 BetaCodex research could be complete without highlighting the What would Ohno-san do? book. Work on the volume was initiated by Stefan Schmeing, and we ended up co-editing the book together. It was a truly delightful project, during which Stefan and I learned a great deal more about Taiichi Ohno (1912 - 1990), about post-war Japan, about Toyota and Toyota Production System history, and about how the TQM and Lean movements ultimately were led astray by later generations of production, quality and lean experts.
The book brings together a whopping 160+ quotes by Ohno-san. I can say that Stefan and I turned every stone to find the greatest quotes by Ohno-san. We then dedicated a considerable amount of energy to selecting and sorting those quotes into meaningful chapters (spiced up by some biographical information), so that the quotes would speak to us today, more than three decades after Ohno-san’s passing. This is the 1st book of Ohno-san’s quotes ever published, and I think it is fair to say that this collection amounts to the best book ever published under Ohno’s name. But don’t believe what I am saying – judge for yourself.
Ongoing BetaCodex research on organizational leadership
Organizational leadership is set to become an important theme in BetaCodex Network research this year.
A research project initiated at the end of 2025 by Jan Krims is turning to Patterns of Beta Leadership – a long-overdue topic, in my mind. Jan explains: “The Patterns of Beta Leadership research is inspired by experience from various consulting projects that I undertook clients over the last few years. Conceptually, this research will be rooted in the extensive insight around leadership that exists in the Beta Universe already, combined with the still underrated concept of Org Physics that Silke Hermann and Niels Pflaeging | Red42 created in 2011.” There is a lot to be said about leadership in Beta: What it means and what leadership in contemporary organizations and organizations should be.
Also falling in the wider leadership research category is the What would XXX do? series of books. This line of books will gain further extensions in 2026, with at least two, maybe three new titles in the works (we are not sure yet). Stefan Schmeing and Rijon Erickson started working on two different volumes, separately. I have a book of quotes by the great Ernst Weichselbaum in mind. We will see when and how these books will materialize, in 2026.
Time is the new framework
For 2026, we are betting big on Time-orientation (again). Thanks to last year’s Time-Oriented Work Systems and Time-Oriented Software Development research, Andreas Schlegel (who is a senior expert on corporate software projects) and I realized that Time orientation could be applied in yet another sphere of organizations: The implementation of new enterprise software within organizations. This led the two of us to setting up a joint research project, entitled TOSI – Time-Oriented Software Implementation. The key insight behind TOSI: While implementation of ERP, supply chain and operations systems is usually considered high-risk, and will regularly take up between 18 and 36 months, it is clear to us that the failures and messes of such implementation projects are induced not by “bad software”, but by hugely inappropriate approaches to implementation that are based on phased, or old-style project management thinking. We are certain that bringing about socio-technical systems and software implementations can be brought about within a time-span of 6 months (or less). This research will combine insight from TOSD, OpenSpace Beta, OpenSpace DEV and other BetaCodex concepts.
Right now, Andreas and I are looking for companies that are sick and tired of traditional approaches to software implementation, that need to adopt a new operating software and can imagine to become a TOSI pioneer - instead of seeing things getting messed up by conventional, phased, technocratic, dividing and dreadful methods. Get in touch with Andreas Schlegel or myself if you want to break free from the obnoxiousness of project-based approaches and become a TOSI pioneer!
I think that we will come up with further research around Time orientation over the course of the year. So sign up to this Substack and stay updated.
The invitation: Get involved
If you want to know more about this project (or get an update on other ongoing or concluded research projects), take a look at the BetaCodex Network research overview page. I would be happy to hear from you, especially (but not exclusively) if you want to get involved in BetaCodex research. There are many themes and topics we could be picking up on. Let’s get going!
More reading & information
Download all BetaCodex Network research papers here - free of charge and free of registration
Get the What would Ohno-san do? book from Red42
Visit the web magazine The Digestible Deming here on Substack
Subscribe to Niels Pflaeging | Red42 web magazine Red42 | Transforming organizations for good. Fast here on Substack
TOSI and “Patterns of Leadership” AND the next WWXD books - 2026 will be the best year yet! Lots of good things happening in the network!
Great summary of the highlights of 2025 and the things to come in 2026.
Couldn't be more excited about your and Andreas' thoughts about TOSI. I think TOSI has - again - the absolute potential to change the world. For the better.