I have rarely seen self organization work.

What usually happens in a group without a lead is that a leader emerges, and it is usually not the right person - it is the person who is the most charismatic.

A better model is a team that is _well_ organized. To be well organized, a team needs the _right kinds_ of leadership. And there are no roles for that - it depends on the individuals. People define the roles, not the other way around.

When one sets up a team, one must have authority - to allocate resources (a team), that is necessary, and you don't just say "go to it". You need to look at who is on the team, and what their abilities and histories are, and what kinds of leadership they are going to need, and who among the group is most likely to be able to provide which kinds of leadership - and assign those people accordingly. And then watch and see what happens, and be ready to adjust.

In the Agile community, people often claim that they have self organizing teams, but I have literally never seen it. What I have seen it teams who have Scrum Masters who perform a leadership role; and I have seen teams in which the SM was a weak leader, and so the PO stepped in and took charge.