Thanks to Chris Corrigan for passing me this article written by Ricardo Semler, CEO of Semco (a continuously innovative company in Brazil reknowned in strategy and organizational development circles for pushing the bounds of workplace democracy).
Semler wrote a book about his unusual and effective strategies and operational tactics titled “Maverick” many years ago, and several years ago wrote a piece on innovation and organic strategy for the Harvard Business Review. He seems to always use his company as the case study, and why not. They do great things.
I have always wondered why more companies didn’t adopt their own version of the Semco approach.
This excerpt from his new book “The Seven-Day Weekend” provides an interesting perspective on how to take risks, experiment and put the human enzme (Semler himself) to work in catalyzing interesting business opportunities. Giving up on the delusion of control is a central part of his argument
An excerpt:
But many entrepreneurs–be they leaders of great or small enterprises–can’t bring themselves to let go. They probably would have shown me the door, and turned away from a $65 million venture. I believe the obsession with control is a delusion and, increasingly, a fatal business error. The more we grab for it, the more it slips away, and ever more desperate measures are applied, spawning Enrons, WorldComs, and hosts of lower profile disasters. As the control mechanism grows harsher and harsher, what’s lost is the central purpose of the business, any business–a satisfying, worthwhile life for those involved and a reasonable reward for their investment and hard work. The seven-day weekend is Semco’s way of getting out of the control business and back to our central purpose.
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