The caring capitalist

Ricardo Semler talks about his views of business and education. A MUST SEE!!


And another one about is company, Semco.

Ricardo Rocks

Not this guy...My favorite Brazilian of the day is not footballer Ronaldinho, nor is it Paulo Coelho, even though he held the position for a long time; no today, it's Ricardo Semler, the entrepreneuner that took a whole different view on how companies should be managed.

When, at a young age, he was handed his fathers failing empire he could've just happily continued with the status quo and let the company die a slow death while spending away for himself. No, Ricardo's approach was to turn the conventional organisational structure upside down and give employees the power to do basically whatever they felt like with the company. Most would assume that the outcome of such a move could be nothing but havoc. Today, however, products and ideas that has emerged from employee's initiatives accounts for two thirds of both employees and sales.

I think what Ricardo realised is that democratic companies, like democratic countries are much more fun to work and the ideas on the margin that usually only occur in startups in the free world, and not at all in the undemocratic parts of the globe, can emerge from a company with organisational democracy. This because workers feel they can make their voice heard and contribute on a much more profound level than in most other compananies, fostering a loyalty towards management that makes workers willing to fight for their ideas inside the company, and not pursue it elsewhere.

Related articles

• Tips on how to work smarter from Ricardo Semler
• Ricardo Semler and agile/lean principles
• Steakhouse technique in a factory
• Inspiring Ricardo Semler lecture at MIT
• Why does Work Suck?

Why?

Well, during the last year I've slowly begin to realise that I would never be able to thrive in the standard cubicle environment that most white collar companies seem to prefer. It's too rigid. Too fixed.

I hope to explore various ways that companies create awesome environments by empowering their employees.