Just finished reading “Maverick: The Success Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace” (link to Amazon). Ricardo Semler inherited Semco at a young age. He immediately set about transforming it from a traditional dictatorial corporation that docks pay for being 1 minute late and requires approval for buying a office supplies to a democratically run organization where the team hires and fires the boss.

Maverick is a recommended read that challenges every modern day notion of how to run a company. Some excerpts about Semco and Ricardo Semler:

Semco’s 3,000 employees set their own work hours and pay levels. Subordinates hire and review their supervisors. Hammocks are scattered about the grounds for afternoon naps, and employees are encouraged to spend Monday morning at the beach if they spent Saturday afternoon at the office. There are no organization charts, no five-year plans, no corporate values statement, no dress code, and no written rules or policy statements beyond a brief “Survival Manual,” in comic-book form, that introduces new hires to Semco’s unusual ways. The employees elect the corporate leadership and initiate most of Semco’s moves into new businesses and out of old ones. Of the 3,000 votes at the company, Ricardo Semler has just one.

via Christian Sarkar

“30% of people’s time is spent trying to understand why people make more than they do, how come people came late, why weren’t you at the meeting, can you do this by Wed 6 o’clock….and it’s all very silly.”

“This is just too much work. What do you want me to do? I’ll just do my 9-to-5 thing…I’ll learn how to survive in this environment.”

via YouTube

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