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The Seven-Day Weekend by Ricardo Semler
"Ricardo Semler's favorite question is "Why?" Why do people routinely bring work home on the weekends but never go to the movies on a Monday afternoon? Why do we need to sit at the same desk every day? Why do we have to fill out time sheets or need an HR department to file them? Why are we interviewed by our bosses but never get to interview someone who wants to be our boss?" "For the last twenty years Semler has been doing a lot more than asking questions - he's actually been running a company by breaking every tenet in the traditional rule book. Semler encourages his employees to play hooky. He tells them not to bother with growth plans. Employees choose their own salaries, set their own hours and have no job titles." Reflecting Ricardo Semler's passion, wry sense of humor, and hardheaded business acumen, The Seven-Day Weekend challenges all of our assumptions about how a successful business should be run.
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First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
May 3, 2013
Very inspiring as an ideal, with plenty of good stories, but not suitable as a how-to for next Monday morning.
November 7, 2011
Ricardo Semler is one (probably the only one, now that I think about it) of the most original thinkers in business today. This is a follow-up book to Maverick, the only five-star business book I've ever read. The Seven Day Weekend goes into a bit more detail about Semco's unique workplace culture, where workplace democracy is the norm. Employees set their own pay and hours, can avoid fixed jobs, follow both their business and personal instincts and vote on both their bosses and company decisions.
Many American leaders dismiss Semler's approach with typical ethnocentrism: wouldn't work here. Ironic that the country that was once seen as the beacon of democracy emphatically rejects workplace democracy and worships business leaders who are narcissistic, tough-guy control freaks focused on money, money, money. Semco went from a $5M company to a $300M company without a strategic plan, without a strict hierarchy, without rules and policies and instead chose to create a workforce that recognizes that people are responsible adults who do not need babysitters or a police state mentality to "manage them," because they can manage themselves. The financial and human measures are presented clearly and wittily in this book, demonstrating that a business can indeed be extraordinarily successful and help create meaningful lives and work for those employed there.
Many American leaders dismiss Semler's approach with typical ethnocentrism: wouldn't work here. Ironic that the country that was once seen as the beacon of democracy emphatically rejects workplace democracy and worships business leaders who are narcissistic, tough-guy control freaks focused on money, money, money. Semco went from a $5M company to a $300M company without a strategic plan, without a strict hierarchy, without rules and policies and instead chose to create a workforce that recognizes that people are responsible adults who do not need babysitters or a police state mentality to "manage them," because they can manage themselves. The financial and human measures are presented clearly and wittily in this book, demonstrating that a business can indeed be extraordinarily successful and help create meaningful lives and work for those employed there.
January 27, 2008
I think Google works this way a lot, but Semler kind of came up with it on his own.
Most of the great ideas in here are about trust. Trusting your employees, your business partners and pretty much everyone else. And not writing down too much in terms of rules & regulations, long-term plans and other things that constrain your wiggle room as you turn plans into reality.
Semler didn't get any of this from his Dad, who founded the company and was of the opposite temperament: very structured, very top-down.
Most of the great ideas in here are about trust. Trusting your employees, your business partners and pretty much everyone else. And not writing down too much in terms of rules & regulations, long-term plans and other things that constrain your wiggle room as you turn plans into reality.
Semler didn't get any of this from his Dad, who founded the company and was of the opposite temperament: very structured, very top-down.
June 24, 2008
ricardo semler is a breath of fresh air when it comes to rethinking working. it's radically sensical, ethical and humane. hooray.
June 23, 2022
I was expecting a lot more from this book than I got. It's not terrible and I think that this review is a bit harsh in some ways, but I just didn't enjoy it because of my own expectations.
It's written from the perspective of a business owner talking about how great his own company is and all the ways that they've bucked organisational norms to be successful. My issues with that were:
- It's always a little bit suspect to make such big claims when n = 1 - use more than just one example please
- I wasn't looking for a book about running a company, I was looking for one about general approaches to living a more balanced and meaningful life - the book only covers some of this at the very beginning in the first few chapters, but then doesn't deliver on what it covers in those chapters because it's then so much more focused on running a business.
So yeah... not what I was looking for. Didn't get much from it.
It's written from the perspective of a business owner talking about how great his own company is and all the ways that they've bucked organisational norms to be successful. My issues with that were:
- It's always a little bit suspect to make such big claims when n = 1 - use more than just one example please
- I wasn't looking for a book about running a company, I was looking for one about general approaches to living a more balanced and meaningful life - the book only covers some of this at the very beginning in the first few chapters, but then doesn't deliver on what it covers in those chapters because it's then so much more focused on running a business.
So yeah... not what I was looking for. Didn't get much from it.
December 8, 2018
The Seven-Day Weekend manages to be both thought-provoking and entertaining. Others will point out that this is not a "how-to" guide but more like a collection of anecdotes that amount to a case study of the Semco way. After reading the book, it's clear that the Semco way involves too much flexibility for a "how-to" guide to even be possible. In fact, that's kind of the point. I found Mr. Semler's book inspiring and highly recommend it. I'm not convinced that his advice will apply to every organization - I think he discounts the importance of Semco's hiring process in selecting the very adults that are so important to the company's success. Still, organizations of every size will find much here to think about.
November 23, 2023
De titel dekt naar mijn idee niet de volledige lading; 'In de flow van arbeidsvreugde' (of iets dergelijks) was toepasselijker geweest. Verder merk je dat het boek vertaald is uit het (Braziliaans-)Portugees, waardoor ik bij sommige passages het gevoel had dat de clou/boodschap van de schrijver niet helemaal tot uitdrukking kwam. Datzelfde had ik bij 'De Alchemist' van Paulo Coelho (al zou het natuurlijk ook kunnen dat dat gewoon een vaag boek was). Desondanks beschrijft Semler leuke en boeiende verhalen uit de praktijk en zet hij aan tot nadenken.
December 16, 2017
What Ricardo Semler has done with Semco really looks like science-fiction. It seems he has challenged every basic principles a lot of people take for granted to run a business, and one cannot stop wondering how this actually worked out well.
For those who have read a bit about Collective Intelligence (e.g. "Booster l'intelligence collective"), Semco is the real-life (and successful!) laboratory for this paradigm, using self-management instead of carrot-and-stick.
The basis: if you share a common goal, if you trust that people are intelligent adult human beings able to define what is best for themselves and for the company, if everything is transparent enough to enable decision-making (including detailed accounting and salaries), if you are able to relinquish control, then you don't need all those activities that don't really add value, the company will be agile and efficient, and employees will be happy.
Just a few examples. Let people choose their working hours, choose their working location, decide their own personal-professional balance. Let them free to attend (or not) any meeting. Let any of them meet candidates in a tribal-like selection process, and vote for the preferred one. Let them decide their own salaries. Let them decide if it's better to close their own factory and lose their job now or hang on and put their compensation at risk. No procedures, no rules, no written values, no written strategy, no planning further than 6 months ahead, and not even a statement defining what the company actually does.
Really difficult to apply as such, I still don't understand how one can make this work to such extent. That was probably possible because Semco is not a publicly held company with short-term quartely results to guarantee (a principle he despises).
But this book is definitely excellent food for thought about trusting the people, embracing diversity (join rule-makers with rule-breakers), respecting dissent, enhancing people's creativity and initiative.
For those who have read a bit about Collective Intelligence (e.g. "Booster l'intelligence collective"), Semco is the real-life (and successful!) laboratory for this paradigm, using self-management instead of carrot-and-stick.
The basis: if you share a common goal, if you trust that people are intelligent adult human beings able to define what is best for themselves and for the company, if everything is transparent enough to enable decision-making (including detailed accounting and salaries), if you are able to relinquish control, then you don't need all those activities that don't really add value, the company will be agile and efficient, and employees will be happy.
Just a few examples. Let people choose their working hours, choose their working location, decide their own personal-professional balance. Let them free to attend (or not) any meeting. Let any of them meet candidates in a tribal-like selection process, and vote for the preferred one. Let them decide their own salaries. Let them decide if it's better to close their own factory and lose their job now or hang on and put their compensation at risk. No procedures, no rules, no written values, no written strategy, no planning further than 6 months ahead, and not even a statement defining what the company actually does.
Really difficult to apply as such, I still don't understand how one can make this work to such extent. That was probably possible because Semco is not a publicly held company with short-term quartely results to guarantee (a principle he despises).
But this book is definitely excellent food for thought about trusting the people, embracing diversity (join rule-makers with rule-breakers), respecting dissent, enhancing people's creativity and initiative.
November 22, 2015
The idea contained in the title of the book is a good one: now that work spills over into evenings and weekends thanks to smartphones, email, Slack, etc, might as well accept that but also let life spill into the workday.
As he puts it: go ahead and answer that email on Sunday evening, but don't hesitate to go to the movies with your spouse on Monday afternoon. Thumbs up for this idea.
Unfortunately the rest of the book appears to be a bunch of rambling cheerleading for Semco without much practical advice, so I didn't finish it.
As he puts it: go ahead and answer that email on Sunday evening, but don't hesitate to go to the movies with your spouse on Monday afternoon. Thumbs up for this idea.
Unfortunately the rest of the book appears to be a bunch of rambling cheerleading for Semco without much practical advice, so I didn't finish it.
July 11, 2017
Why are we able to answer emails on Sundays, but unable to go to the movies on Monday afternoons? – Ricardo Semler, the man. End of book.
OK, that’s probably not much of a description, and I guess the point of writing these things is to encourage you to read stuff that I think is worth your time.
I went and found this book after listening to Ricardo’s interview on the Tim Ferriss Podcast. He’s the Brazilian CEO of a Sao Paulo company called Semco. The book is about how he created a workplace of democracy. As in, full-blown, theory-into-practice, I’m-the-boss-but-it’s-not-up-to-me, democracy.
People are considered adults in their private lives, at the bank, at their children’s schools, with family and among friends – so why are they all of a sudden considered adolescents at work?
Semco makes industrial machinery, assembly line stuff – but their factories don’t run like most. The idea that the people doing the work, know the best way to do it, or will figure it out soon enough, gets applied everywhere. Staff choose their own salaries after analysing the companies profit/loss books and looking at what people doing similar roles elsewhere get paid. “That’s all the information anyone needs to make that decision,” Ricardo says.
One of the first things he questioned was why do we dictate when our workers turn up to work? He took away shifts in an assembly line factory, and all hell broke loose. For a few weeks. Then people started talking to each other and figured out the best times to be there.
Why? Why? Why? – Ricardo uses the ‘three whys’ on everything. Questioning things three times to get to the root cause. Not a new idea, but one worth remembering.
The staff hire their own leaders after interviewing them, sometimes a dozen times. If the people they’re going to be leading don’t believe in them, the relationship will never work.
Some of the ideas and philosophies would be just that. Ramblings on an ideal way of life. The difference is, this crazy dude put those ideals onto the assembly line.
The company has grown 27.5% every year, for the last 14 years. So it’s obviously working well for the business as well as the employees – who regularly turn down higher paid roles in other organisations because they prefer the ‘Semco way’.
We promptly did… nothing
The overarching idea at work is democracy. Ricardo takes his hands off, and in a lot of the stories through the book he reiterates how hard that actually is.
He reminds us that there will be periods of uncertainty, maybe panic, and for somebody who is used to being in charge or in control, that leap of faith is hard. But, he argues, if you have the right people who know how to do the job, they’ll figure it out. Because they know best, not their manager or leader. A lot of times, the problem is we don’t let people figure it out for themselves – so they never flex that muscle.
Reading the book after the podcast first was good and bad. Good in that it meant I read each line in his choice sounding Brazillian accent, which probably made everything cooler. Bad in that a few of the big ideas he talks about in the book, I’d already heard. Likewise with the TED video below.
Stress is the difference between expectation and reality – unrelated to the above or below paragraphs, just something he wrote in the book which is true and deserved to be in quote format.
He talks a lot about fulfilment and happiness at work and how he’s seen that come to life. Being able to work in a role that exhausts your talent reservoir is the key, he says. Ie. doing a job that makes use of the stuff you’re good at. (Elsewhere) “Campaigns to motivate staff are needed because boredom, repetition, and company constraints block out the reservoir of talent, snuff out natural inclination.”
The sad truth is, when you’re most fit to realize your dreams, you don’t have the money for them, and when you have the most time and money on your hands, you no longer have the stamina. Aren’t we avoiding the obvious?”
Retire-a-little program – the curve of human health means in your twenties and thirties is when you’re most physically and mentally capable of doing the things you love, but it’s when you have the least time because you’re too busy working. When you retire, you have all the time and financial independence, but less of the health. So Semco started a program where you can buy back a day or an afternoon of your work week, for below its salary value. You then get a voucher back for working after your retirement if you like. “So, if you took off 100 Wednesday afternoons, you are entitled to redeem such vouchers after your retirement, in essence showing up to work one Wednesday a week, for two years, and receiving your pay.” This is a good idea right? What makes it crazy-good, is that it’s been put in place by your work-place to make your life better.
At the end of the book, he asks some questions about schools, and questions our current systems. If you watch the TED video you’ll see where he took that questioning. It’s worth a watch.
The book is a really good mix of philosophical wonderings, and stories or initiatives that tell how those crazy ideas were brought to life. In essence, he’s woven some really solid life philosophies into the working structure of his company. Or, he’s allowed the workers in the company to come up with how to turn those philosophies into frameworks. Give it a read and you might question the way you work, better yet, you might come up with a better way to do it.
OK, that’s probably not much of a description, and I guess the point of writing these things is to encourage you to read stuff that I think is worth your time.
I went and found this book after listening to Ricardo’s interview on the Tim Ferriss Podcast. He’s the Brazilian CEO of a Sao Paulo company called Semco. The book is about how he created a workplace of democracy. As in, full-blown, theory-into-practice, I’m-the-boss-but-it’s-not-up-to-me, democracy.
People are considered adults in their private lives, at the bank, at their children’s schools, with family and among friends – so why are they all of a sudden considered adolescents at work?
Semco makes industrial machinery, assembly line stuff – but their factories don’t run like most. The idea that the people doing the work, know the best way to do it, or will figure it out soon enough, gets applied everywhere. Staff choose their own salaries after analysing the companies profit/loss books and looking at what people doing similar roles elsewhere get paid. “That’s all the information anyone needs to make that decision,” Ricardo says.
One of the first things he questioned was why do we dictate when our workers turn up to work? He took away shifts in an assembly line factory, and all hell broke loose. For a few weeks. Then people started talking to each other and figured out the best times to be there.
Why? Why? Why? – Ricardo uses the ‘three whys’ on everything. Questioning things three times to get to the root cause. Not a new idea, but one worth remembering.
The staff hire their own leaders after interviewing them, sometimes a dozen times. If the people they’re going to be leading don’t believe in them, the relationship will never work.
Some of the ideas and philosophies would be just that. Ramblings on an ideal way of life. The difference is, this crazy dude put those ideals onto the assembly line.
The company has grown 27.5% every year, for the last 14 years. So it’s obviously working well for the business as well as the employees – who regularly turn down higher paid roles in other organisations because they prefer the ‘Semco way’.
We promptly did… nothing
The overarching idea at work is democracy. Ricardo takes his hands off, and in a lot of the stories through the book he reiterates how hard that actually is.
He reminds us that there will be periods of uncertainty, maybe panic, and for somebody who is used to being in charge or in control, that leap of faith is hard. But, he argues, if you have the right people who know how to do the job, they’ll figure it out. Because they know best, not their manager or leader. A lot of times, the problem is we don’t let people figure it out for themselves – so they never flex that muscle.
Reading the book after the podcast first was good and bad. Good in that it meant I read each line in his choice sounding Brazillian accent, which probably made everything cooler. Bad in that a few of the big ideas he talks about in the book, I’d already heard. Likewise with the TED video below.
Stress is the difference between expectation and reality – unrelated to the above or below paragraphs, just something he wrote in the book which is true and deserved to be in quote format.
He talks a lot about fulfilment and happiness at work and how he’s seen that come to life. Being able to work in a role that exhausts your talent reservoir is the key, he says. Ie. doing a job that makes use of the stuff you’re good at. (Elsewhere) “Campaigns to motivate staff are needed because boredom, repetition, and company constraints block out the reservoir of talent, snuff out natural inclination.”
The sad truth is, when you’re most fit to realize your dreams, you don’t have the money for them, and when you have the most time and money on your hands, you no longer have the stamina. Aren’t we avoiding the obvious?”
Retire-a-little program – the curve of human health means in your twenties and thirties is when you’re most physically and mentally capable of doing the things you love, but it’s when you have the least time because you’re too busy working. When you retire, you have all the time and financial independence, but less of the health. So Semco started a program where you can buy back a day or an afternoon of your work week, for below its salary value. You then get a voucher back for working after your retirement if you like. “So, if you took off 100 Wednesday afternoons, you are entitled to redeem such vouchers after your retirement, in essence showing up to work one Wednesday a week, for two years, and receiving your pay.” This is a good idea right? What makes it crazy-good, is that it’s been put in place by your work-place to make your life better.
At the end of the book, he asks some questions about schools, and questions our current systems. If you watch the TED video you’ll see where he took that questioning. It’s worth a watch.
The book is a really good mix of philosophical wonderings, and stories or initiatives that tell how those crazy ideas were brought to life. In essence, he’s woven some really solid life philosophies into the working structure of his company. Or, he’s allowed the workers in the company to come up with how to turn those philosophies into frameworks. Give it a read and you might question the way you work, better yet, you might come up with a better way to do it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2013
This book changed the way my company works.
It forces me completely re-engineer the way of daily schedule, responsibilities and structure of the company.
Read it if you would like to investigate ways how to make a modern company in non-standard way.
It forces me completely re-engineer the way of daily schedule, responsibilities and structure of the company.
Read it if you would like to investigate ways how to make a modern company in non-standard way.
October 29, 2015
Challenging ideas
If you have read Maverick by the same author,there is nothing much new. However, Ricardo organises his thoughts better by providing a cogent philosophical framework in this book.
If you have read Maverick by the same author,there is nothing much new. However, Ricardo organises his thoughts better by providing a cogent philosophical framework in this book.
June 18, 2017
Devoured this book over 1.5 days. Amazing, inspiring, so many nuggets on how to drive the company to become more self-managing, empower employees, diminish the power of titles and high egos. I recommend to read it if you are in HR, management or running your own business.
November 22, 2020
Niet helemaal uitgelezen. Ben gestrand op 70%. Hoe verrassend de strategie bij Semler ook is, hij lijkt weinig toepasbaar.
March 13, 2015
I really dig this guy's philosophy, and methodology.
For Rogério Ottolia,
who left much too early
but will stay in Semco’s heart forever.
Any Day
Asky why?
Give up control
Change the way work works
The repetition, boredom and aggravation that too many people accept as an inherent part of working can be replaced with joy, inspiration and freedom.
Instead of dictating Semco’s identity, I let our employees shape it with their individual efforts, interests and initiatives.
The obsession with control is delusion, and increasingly, a fatal business error.
I don’t want to be burdened with the 90-day mindset of most stock market analysts. It would undermine our solidity and force us to dance to a tune we really don’t want to hear - a Wall Street waltz that starts each day with an opening bell and ends with the thump of the closing gavel.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I want Semco employees to ramble through their days, to use instinct, opportunity, and ingenuity to choose projects and ventures.
The type and size of the organization is irrelevant -- that’s why Semco practices have been adopted at schools, hospitals, police departments, and large and small companies around the world.
We have 10 companies, give or take. They come and go; we’ve had a minimum of 5 for 20 years. We also have 6 internet companies, so we could claim 16 units, but we don’t know how many of those will survive, or in what form.
First, we look for complexity, which usually means ‘highly engineered.’ Everything has a high entry barrier of complexity. If a business isn’t difficult for us and for others to break into, then we’re not interested. Second, we demand that in each of our markets, we be the premium player. We want to offer a high-end product or service. That means we’re always more expensive because we provide the premium that stretches what the customer will pay. And third, we want a unique niche in the market, one that makes us a major player in any given industry.
Employees must be free to question, to analyze, to investigate, and a company must be flexible enough to listen to the answers.
Ask why.
Ask it all the time, ask it any day, every day, and always ask it 3 times in a row.
This doesn’t come naturally. People are conditioned to recoil from questioning too much. First, it can be perceived as rude. Second, it can be dangerous, implying that we’re ignorant or uninformed. Third, it means everything we think we know may turn out to be incorrect or incomplete.
Put aside all the rote or pat answers that have resulted from ‘calcified’ thinking - that state of mind where ideas have become so hardened that they’re no longer of any use. Employees must be free to question, to analyze, to investigate, and a company must be flexible enough to listen to the answers. Those habits are the key to longevity, growth, and profit.
We hate written plans. People will follow a plan like a Pied Piper -- mindlessly, with no thought as to the final destination.
We no longer grasp the difference between leisure time and being idle. Work is so intense these days, so all-consuming that it is the arch-enemy of free time. An idle, wandering mind is a garden of rejuvenation, growth and contemplation. Chores are still work - you’re just not getting paid for it, and you’re certainly not relaxing.
Technology has encroached so deeply into our lives that we must make deliberate efforts to beat it back. Divide the 7 days among company time, personal time, and idleness (free time).
Anyone who eliminates the stress of an overbooked schedule, arrange a workweek to sleep according to biorhythms and enjoy a sunny Monday will be much more productive. Employees will find equilibrium in their professional, personal, and spiritual lives. It’s a sound strategy for business success.
Work provides challenge, meaning and purpose. Human beings thrive on being productive, on working toward goals, providing for their families, and building a future -- just don’t ask them to do it all the time and without the freedom to say “Now I need time for me.”
You don’t have to like the people you work with. Respect for their performance is enough.
At Semco, people only survive by performing. All it takes is confidence that employees are responsible adults, not ignorant newcomers who know next to nothing about their jobs.
We always hope that on their own, people will discover their true calling.
Our focus is on hiring people who want to work for us because there’s a ‘click’ between their life purpose and the company’s business purpose.
‘We have no openings, but apply anyway. Come in and talk about what you might do for us, and how we might create a position for you.’
Why do the same job year after year?
Why not retire at age 40 and go back to work at 60?
Tuesday is ideal for thinking about why we do what we do. Ultimately, the answer is: to make the life trip worthwhile and to feel alive with purpose.
For work to be personally meaningful, it has to be customized to people’s talents.
Talk to employees, find out what they want to accomplish, and give them freedom to pursue their ideas.
Worker dissatisfaction and frustration are usually caused by indignation at not being heard. Money isn’t the real issue.
A company’s employees are not the enemy. They are valuable assets and worth investing in.
Survival of the fittest is really using fear as a management technique. It spawns a regime of microterror and veiled threats where managers tell employees to stay busy and keep your numbers up. You’ll get bigger numbers by nurturing employees.
When corporate behemoths park their scouts outside ivy-covered brick walls, the tough-minded students within are already well steeled for the relentless career drive that awaits them. Gone are the shy thoughtful students who can quietly outmaneuver a bombastic opponent, in favor of peers who tend to be openly aggressive, individualistic, and terror-tested, yet underexposed to teamwork, ego control, soft tactics, and compromise.
the late Rogério Ottolia - CEO of digital scale factory
At our schools, Institute for Advanced Learning, Lumiar (to shed light on), learning is based on freedom, self-determination and self-discipline, passion and love. The kids tell us what they want to learn and eat; they decide on sanctions, and do better in standardized tests than the norm.
Profit beyond the minimum is not essential for survival. If so, it can enable the owner or CEO to commission a yacht, but then employees wonder why they should work so the owner can buy a boat.
Insistence on high ethical standards is simply good for business. We think the journey through life tells us how happy we were and how true to ourselves we have been. We have a common denominator with those accompanying us on the trip, and we need to feel good about the road we have traveled.
Ask the right questions…
Do you feel like coming to work on Monday morning
Do you trust the leaders
Do you believe everything we say in our internal and external communications?
We insist on trust. We want employees to have faith in the company.
Profits must be judged as moral or immoral by how they are earned and how they are disposed.
People work for and on themselves. Sustainability and personal gratification meet profitability.
The Fortunate 500.
Why grow at all?
Why not shrink?
Why is money so important?
Judge us by what we do, not what we say we do.
Give up control and allow employees to manage themselves. Trust workers implicitly, share power and information, encourage dissent, and celebrate true democracy.
Truly sustainable profit, growth, and quality happens only when employees feel it’s worthwhile to get up for work.
No one has ever said: our common denominators are honesty, trust, and integrity. It’s a philosophy that working together for years has instilled in people. Decisions arising from debate are implemented much more quickly because explanations, alternatives, objections, and uncertainties have already been aired.
Diversity teaches us important lessons - how to listen, compromise, and communicate, how to be patient, tolerant, and resilient. Things may not go as smoothly or as fast, but maybe slowing down will let us catch our breath and see new opportunities instead of the usual blur.
MBA candidates lead to uniformity. We look for a quick analytical mind, the capacity to integrate easily, an attitude of teamwork, transparency and openness, an independent attitude, a career of deliberate and solid growth, and a sense of humor.
We try to reduce the stress the process puts on the candidate.
The maximum anyone is able to regularly interact with is a half dozen people. Groups of 6-10 people who know about each other don’t need outside control. Better to have 6 teams of 6 people rather than an unwieldy 36-member unit. Respecting nature makes for easy control systems.
It’s not a matter of size. It a question of relinquishing control, trusting workers to pursue their own best interests, sitting back and letting nature take its course.
Success doesn’t come from one person alone; it stems from collective decisions that colleagues support.
Arrogant leadership leads to irresponsible leadership.
It’s human nature to look for a savior or a father figure. Our herd mentality prompts us to line up behind them. Two things then happen to leaders when they become a hero: Employees begin to delegate upward; and the leader starts to believe his own press, which invariably portrays him as a genius.
Why not make attending meetings optional?
Why have a permanent CEO?
Every Day
Do some unexpected learning
Sit back, relax, and plan only as far as the next bend in the river
Alice in Wonderland & the Cheshire Cat
Which way should I go?
It depends entirely on where you want to go.
Anywhere as long as it takes me somewhere
In that case, any of the roads will do.
In my life, anywhere I end up is somewhere I want to be.
Twice in my life I’ve gone to an airport and only then chosen a destination. If I don’t know where I’m going, any road is interesting.
The mystery of why some people are more in touch with their intuitive faculties has something to do with the license allowed to the uninhibited use of those attributes. People have to be encouraged to act on instinct or its potency as a tool will be lost.
Power and position do not guarantee infallibility or even necessarily the best thinking.
The danger of hanging out with kooks to bring wild and crazy dreams to life is that you may lose contact with reality. But then it takes some of each extreme to create the extraordinary.
Countless important discoveries resulted from mistakes or serendipity. Including the French tarte tatin, by the two Tatin sisters who operated a little train station bistro in the village of Lamotte Beuvron.
When management heaps change on employees and it’s not in their self-interest, they withdraw their most valuable assets - passion, talent and commitment. Crippled, business resorts to ‘defense by emulation.’ This industry-wide emulation is poison.
Take the auto industry. Line up the sedans, and it’s impossible to distinguish among them unless you happen to own one. Why? Because their designers all learned from the same books, went to the same schools, meet at the same conventions, attend trade shows together and focus unduly on their competition.
Change works well only if it is a nonissue. An organization that constantly and artificially coaches its people to change is like a Darwinist shouting to a giraffe: Stretch that neck!
Global companies don’t practice democracy. Lenin and Stalin’s form of communism is gone, but its trappings have been expropriated by mega-corporations. State monitoring, central planning, mission statements…
At Semco, we are sustainably out of control -- in both practice and theory.
For Rogério Ottolia,
who left much too early
but will stay in Semco’s heart forever.
Any Day
Asky why?
Give up control
Change the way work works
The repetition, boredom and aggravation that too many people accept as an inherent part of working can be replaced with joy, inspiration and freedom.
Instead of dictating Semco’s identity, I let our employees shape it with their individual efforts, interests and initiatives.
The obsession with control is delusion, and increasingly, a fatal business error.
I don’t want to be burdened with the 90-day mindset of most stock market analysts. It would undermine our solidity and force us to dance to a tune we really don’t want to hear - a Wall Street waltz that starts each day with an opening bell and ends with the thump of the closing gavel.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I want Semco employees to ramble through their days, to use instinct, opportunity, and ingenuity to choose projects and ventures.
The type and size of the organization is irrelevant -- that’s why Semco practices have been adopted at schools, hospitals, police departments, and large and small companies around the world.
We have 10 companies, give or take. They come and go; we’ve had a minimum of 5 for 20 years. We also have 6 internet companies, so we could claim 16 units, but we don’t know how many of those will survive, or in what form.
First, we look for complexity, which usually means ‘highly engineered.’ Everything has a high entry barrier of complexity. If a business isn’t difficult for us and for others to break into, then we’re not interested. Second, we demand that in each of our markets, we be the premium player. We want to offer a high-end product or service. That means we’re always more expensive because we provide the premium that stretches what the customer will pay. And third, we want a unique niche in the market, one that makes us a major player in any given industry.
Employees must be free to question, to analyze, to investigate, and a company must be flexible enough to listen to the answers.
Ask why.
Ask it all the time, ask it any day, every day, and always ask it 3 times in a row.
This doesn’t come naturally. People are conditioned to recoil from questioning too much. First, it can be perceived as rude. Second, it can be dangerous, implying that we’re ignorant or uninformed. Third, it means everything we think we know may turn out to be incorrect or incomplete.
Put aside all the rote or pat answers that have resulted from ‘calcified’ thinking - that state of mind where ideas have become so hardened that they’re no longer of any use. Employees must be free to question, to analyze, to investigate, and a company must be flexible enough to listen to the answers. Those habits are the key to longevity, growth, and profit.
We hate written plans. People will follow a plan like a Pied Piper -- mindlessly, with no thought as to the final destination.
We no longer grasp the difference between leisure time and being idle. Work is so intense these days, so all-consuming that it is the arch-enemy of free time. An idle, wandering mind is a garden of rejuvenation, growth and contemplation. Chores are still work - you’re just not getting paid for it, and you’re certainly not relaxing.
Technology has encroached so deeply into our lives that we must make deliberate efforts to beat it back. Divide the 7 days among company time, personal time, and idleness (free time).
Anyone who eliminates the stress of an overbooked schedule, arrange a workweek to sleep according to biorhythms and enjoy a sunny Monday will be much more productive. Employees will find equilibrium in their professional, personal, and spiritual lives. It’s a sound strategy for business success.
Work provides challenge, meaning and purpose. Human beings thrive on being productive, on working toward goals, providing for their families, and building a future -- just don’t ask them to do it all the time and without the freedom to say “Now I need time for me.”
You don’t have to like the people you work with. Respect for their performance is enough.
At Semco, people only survive by performing. All it takes is confidence that employees are responsible adults, not ignorant newcomers who know next to nothing about their jobs.
We always hope that on their own, people will discover their true calling.
Our focus is on hiring people who want to work for us because there’s a ‘click’ between their life purpose and the company’s business purpose.
‘We have no openings, but apply anyway. Come in and talk about what you might do for us, and how we might create a position for you.’
Why do the same job year after year?
Why not retire at age 40 and go back to work at 60?
Tuesday is ideal for thinking about why we do what we do. Ultimately, the answer is: to make the life trip worthwhile and to feel alive with purpose.
For work to be personally meaningful, it has to be customized to people’s talents.
Talk to employees, find out what they want to accomplish, and give them freedom to pursue their ideas.
Worker dissatisfaction and frustration are usually caused by indignation at not being heard. Money isn’t the real issue.
A company’s employees are not the enemy. They are valuable assets and worth investing in.
Survival of the fittest is really using fear as a management technique. It spawns a regime of microterror and veiled threats where managers tell employees to stay busy and keep your numbers up. You’ll get bigger numbers by nurturing employees.
When corporate behemoths park their scouts outside ivy-covered brick walls, the tough-minded students within are already well steeled for the relentless career drive that awaits them. Gone are the shy thoughtful students who can quietly outmaneuver a bombastic opponent, in favor of peers who tend to be openly aggressive, individualistic, and terror-tested, yet underexposed to teamwork, ego control, soft tactics, and compromise.
the late Rogério Ottolia - CEO of digital scale factory
At our schools, Institute for Advanced Learning, Lumiar (to shed light on), learning is based on freedom, self-determination and self-discipline, passion and love. The kids tell us what they want to learn and eat; they decide on sanctions, and do better in standardized tests than the norm.
Profit beyond the minimum is not essential for survival. If so, it can enable the owner or CEO to commission a yacht, but then employees wonder why they should work so the owner can buy a boat.
Insistence on high ethical standards is simply good for business. We think the journey through life tells us how happy we were and how true to ourselves we have been. We have a common denominator with those accompanying us on the trip, and we need to feel good about the road we have traveled.
Ask the right questions…
Do you feel like coming to work on Monday morning
Do you trust the leaders
Do you believe everything we say in our internal and external communications?
We insist on trust. We want employees to have faith in the company.
Profits must be judged as moral or immoral by how they are earned and how they are disposed.
People work for and on themselves. Sustainability and personal gratification meet profitability.
The Fortunate 500.
Why grow at all?
Why not shrink?
Why is money so important?
Judge us by what we do, not what we say we do.
Give up control and allow employees to manage themselves. Trust workers implicitly, share power and information, encourage dissent, and celebrate true democracy.
Truly sustainable profit, growth, and quality happens only when employees feel it’s worthwhile to get up for work.
No one has ever said: our common denominators are honesty, trust, and integrity. It’s a philosophy that working together for years has instilled in people. Decisions arising from debate are implemented much more quickly because explanations, alternatives, objections, and uncertainties have already been aired.
Diversity teaches us important lessons - how to listen, compromise, and communicate, how to be patient, tolerant, and resilient. Things may not go as smoothly or as fast, but maybe slowing down will let us catch our breath and see new opportunities instead of the usual blur.
MBA candidates lead to uniformity. We look for a quick analytical mind, the capacity to integrate easily, an attitude of teamwork, transparency and openness, an independent attitude, a career of deliberate and solid growth, and a sense of humor.
We try to reduce the stress the process puts on the candidate.
The maximum anyone is able to regularly interact with is a half dozen people. Groups of 6-10 people who know about each other don’t need outside control. Better to have 6 teams of 6 people rather than an unwieldy 36-member unit. Respecting nature makes for easy control systems.
It’s not a matter of size. It a question of relinquishing control, trusting workers to pursue their own best interests, sitting back and letting nature take its course.
Success doesn’t come from one person alone; it stems from collective decisions that colleagues support.
Arrogant leadership leads to irresponsible leadership.
It’s human nature to look for a savior or a father figure. Our herd mentality prompts us to line up behind them. Two things then happen to leaders when they become a hero: Employees begin to delegate upward; and the leader starts to believe his own press, which invariably portrays him as a genius.
Why not make attending meetings optional?
Why have a permanent CEO?
Every Day
Do some unexpected learning
Sit back, relax, and plan only as far as the next bend in the river
Alice in Wonderland & the Cheshire Cat
Which way should I go?
It depends entirely on where you want to go.
Anywhere as long as it takes me somewhere
In that case, any of the roads will do.
In my life, anywhere I end up is somewhere I want to be.
Twice in my life I’ve gone to an airport and only then chosen a destination. If I don’t know where I’m going, any road is interesting.
The mystery of why some people are more in touch with their intuitive faculties has something to do with the license allowed to the uninhibited use of those attributes. People have to be encouraged to act on instinct or its potency as a tool will be lost.
Power and position do not guarantee infallibility or even necessarily the best thinking.
The danger of hanging out with kooks to bring wild and crazy dreams to life is that you may lose contact with reality. But then it takes some of each extreme to create the extraordinary.
Countless important discoveries resulted from mistakes or serendipity. Including the French tarte tatin, by the two Tatin sisters who operated a little train station bistro in the village of Lamotte Beuvron.
When management heaps change on employees and it’s not in their self-interest, they withdraw their most valuable assets - passion, talent and commitment. Crippled, business resorts to ‘defense by emulation.’ This industry-wide emulation is poison.
Take the auto industry. Line up the sedans, and it’s impossible to distinguish among them unless you happen to own one. Why? Because their designers all learned from the same books, went to the same schools, meet at the same conventions, attend trade shows together and focus unduly on their competition.
Change works well only if it is a nonissue. An organization that constantly and artificially coaches its people to change is like a Darwinist shouting to a giraffe: Stretch that neck!
Global companies don’t practice democracy. Lenin and Stalin’s form of communism is gone, but its trappings have been expropriated by mega-corporations. State monitoring, central planning, mission statements…
At Semco, we are sustainably out of control -- in both practice and theory.
July 17, 2021
Working/Living in Ways Where People Thrive - When looking to become more familiar with Brazil (see my review of Mussa’s “Mystery of Rio”), I remembered seeing references to Ricardo Semler in regards to innovative business organization and practices emanating from that country. Thus, I decided to look at his most recent book to see what further I might learn about the culture and how his efforts have fared over the years.
From this book (and more recent articles), I learned Semler and his cohorts’ endeavors have extended close to 40 years (he took over from his father in 1982) where their company has grown and adapted to create an environment for working and living in ways where people thrive. There may have been some particularly Brazilian aspects to their efforts, but such elements are not addressed (e.g., perhaps such traits are not as apparent in the Sao Paulo business class and larger commercial operations conducted there and elsewhere by Semco).
In any case, the book consists of a brief Introduction and Conclusion as well as nine chapters: two “Any Day” surrounding seven other chapters corresponding to the days of the week. These chapters describe and elaborate his title and metaphor of the weekend extending throughout the work week in characterizing Semco (founded as Semler Company). Actually, the idea is more one of blended time with blurred boundaries where people are encouraged to manage their own activities and schedules to balance company and personal goals as well as business/home life while achieving business success.
Semler’s account reminded me of our endeavors at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Enfield Operations in the 1980’s to early 90’s---a high performance organization with self-managed work teams (see mention in Hana’s “Designing Organizations for High Performance” and my review of O’Toole and Lawler’s “The New American Workplace”). That facility had a similar set of aims and feel to that described for Semco at that time, although with Semler’s private ownership they clearly have gone further in this direction and managed to continue for a significant time with dramatic results---a remarkable story and record of achievement (e.g., from his father’s peak of $4 million a year to $212 million in annual revenue in 2003).
My favorite parts were those where Semler related some of their more progressive practices and ways that they have adapted to the then emergent digital business environment. Some of their approaches include the complete transparency with employees concerning company finances, involvement with board, and all decision-making meetings such as determining salaries and profit sharing. By 2004 when this book appeared, the internet and e-business had rebounded from the crash in 2000 and was beginning to become more prominent----thus Semco Ventures was added to mixing equipment, environmental management, partnerships with Baltimore Air Coil, Johnson Controls, Cushman & Wakefield and other units. These developments seemed to extend the kind of flextime, work-at home and other remote routines that are only now becoming more widespread in dealing with pandemic circumstances. His remarks about the difficulties he and his co-workers have faced on their journey are most welcome as well (see his earlier book “Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace”). I also appreciated the few mentions where Semco characteristics enabled the company and its workers to weather challenging Brazilian government and/or economic conditions at various points.
While Semler’s books are aspirational and inspirational, they do not provide much in the way of road maps for others to follow by themselves. For such guidance, one might use Semler’s books in conjunction with more recent references such as Digman’s “Brave New Work” and Rogers’ “Digital Transformation Playbook” (see my reviews). In terms of addressing the kind of change that Semler has pursued in Brazil (both within his company and more recently in his educational foundation, Lumina), one might also look at such sources as Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage” (see my review).
Despite his books’ limitations, Semler brought back for me some of the excitement and possibilities regarding creating circumstances where we can work, live and thrive as human beings. His writings are worth reading for the kind of expansive vision and uplift they can provide at a time when such inventiveness will be needed in a post-pandemic world.
From this book (and more recent articles), I learned Semler and his cohorts’ endeavors have extended close to 40 years (he took over from his father in 1982) where their company has grown and adapted to create an environment for working and living in ways where people thrive. There may have been some particularly Brazilian aspects to their efforts, but such elements are not addressed (e.g., perhaps such traits are not as apparent in the Sao Paulo business class and larger commercial operations conducted there and elsewhere by Semco).
In any case, the book consists of a brief Introduction and Conclusion as well as nine chapters: two “Any Day” surrounding seven other chapters corresponding to the days of the week. These chapters describe and elaborate his title and metaphor of the weekend extending throughout the work week in characterizing Semco (founded as Semler Company). Actually, the idea is more one of blended time with blurred boundaries where people are encouraged to manage their own activities and schedules to balance company and personal goals as well as business/home life while achieving business success.
Semler’s account reminded me of our endeavors at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Enfield Operations in the 1980’s to early 90’s---a high performance organization with self-managed work teams (see mention in Hana’s “Designing Organizations for High Performance” and my review of O’Toole and Lawler’s “The New American Workplace”). That facility had a similar set of aims and feel to that described for Semco at that time, although with Semler’s private ownership they clearly have gone further in this direction and managed to continue for a significant time with dramatic results---a remarkable story and record of achievement (e.g., from his father’s peak of $4 million a year to $212 million in annual revenue in 2003).
My favorite parts were those where Semler related some of their more progressive practices and ways that they have adapted to the then emergent digital business environment. Some of their approaches include the complete transparency with employees concerning company finances, involvement with board, and all decision-making meetings such as determining salaries and profit sharing. By 2004 when this book appeared, the internet and e-business had rebounded from the crash in 2000 and was beginning to become more prominent----thus Semco Ventures was added to mixing equipment, environmental management, partnerships with Baltimore Air Coil, Johnson Controls, Cushman & Wakefield and other units. These developments seemed to extend the kind of flextime, work-at home and other remote routines that are only now becoming more widespread in dealing with pandemic circumstances. His remarks about the difficulties he and his co-workers have faced on their journey are most welcome as well (see his earlier book “Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace”). I also appreciated the few mentions where Semco characteristics enabled the company and its workers to weather challenging Brazilian government and/or economic conditions at various points.
While Semler’s books are aspirational and inspirational, they do not provide much in the way of road maps for others to follow by themselves. For such guidance, one might use Semler’s books in conjunction with more recent references such as Digman’s “Brave New Work” and Rogers’ “Digital Transformation Playbook” (see my reviews). In terms of addressing the kind of change that Semler has pursued in Brazil (both within his company and more recently in his educational foundation, Lumina), one might also look at such sources as Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage” (see my review).
Despite his books’ limitations, Semler brought back for me some of the excitement and possibilities regarding creating circumstances where we can work, live and thrive as human beings. His writings are worth reading for the kind of expansive vision and uplift they can provide at a time when such inventiveness will be needed in a post-pandemic world.
November 11, 2021
What is your favorite quote from the book?
We want to offer a high-end product or service. That means we're always more expensive because we provide the premium that stretches what the customer will pay.
Which coworker would you recommend this book to?
Michael, it a good easy read. I liked that many of the principles described in the book are already applied to Matteform. I gave it a not so high rating because sometimes it feels it is a Semco pamphlet. also some of the things Ricardo talks about feel utopic. He could have backed them up with numbers from his company. I wonder about attrition. And also the title is very misleading. It should be called something like. Forget about weekends, work when you can rest when you can. A work life balance glimpse into my company.
What is a specific real world application that you will be able to make from what you learned in this book?
Made me think about work life balance. And to review my "daily strategy" closer. But not something radical or 180'ish. I'm happy to work in a company that already believes in making work fun, and to have a work-life balance.
What is the one thing that you think you will do differently or think differently about since you read the book?
Again, maybe review my daily routine. I admit that I love routine. I like to have breakfast at a certain hour, lunch at a certain hour. If I can't have lunch at 2:30pm, sometimes I prefer to skip it. I should try to learn to be a bit more flexible.
What is one point you disagreed with, or at least questioned, in this book?
A lot! I am not familiar with Semco, the company that is the poster child for this book. I hesitate a lot about it, because if the company is really that different and that successful, I believe I would have heard from it. Or studied it in College, or something. feels utopic, that is the word that comes to mind. But I will do a deep dive into it. See that I can read about it
How does something you learned from this book tie into one of the core values of the company?
I listed it as my favorite quote. Be expensive if you can afford it. We are twice sometimes triple as expensive as our competitors. But there is a premium attached to it. And also balancing work and life. Having fun and questioning things. Glad to work at a company that has these beliefs already in place.
We want to offer a high-end product or service. That means we're always more expensive because we provide the premium that stretches what the customer will pay.
Which coworker would you recommend this book to?
Michael, it a good easy read. I liked that many of the principles described in the book are already applied to Matteform. I gave it a not so high rating because sometimes it feels it is a Semco pamphlet. also some of the things Ricardo talks about feel utopic. He could have backed them up with numbers from his company. I wonder about attrition. And also the title is very misleading. It should be called something like. Forget about weekends, work when you can rest when you can. A work life balance glimpse into my company.
What is a specific real world application that you will be able to make from what you learned in this book?
Made me think about work life balance. And to review my "daily strategy" closer. But not something radical or 180'ish. I'm happy to work in a company that already believes in making work fun, and to have a work-life balance.
What is the one thing that you think you will do differently or think differently about since you read the book?
Again, maybe review my daily routine. I admit that I love routine. I like to have breakfast at a certain hour, lunch at a certain hour. If I can't have lunch at 2:30pm, sometimes I prefer to skip it. I should try to learn to be a bit more flexible.
What is one point you disagreed with, or at least questioned, in this book?
A lot! I am not familiar with Semco, the company that is the poster child for this book. I hesitate a lot about it, because if the company is really that different and that successful, I believe I would have heard from it. Or studied it in College, or something. feels utopic, that is the word that comes to mind. But I will do a deep dive into it. See that I can read about it
How does something you learned from this book tie into one of the core values of the company?
I listed it as my favorite quote. Be expensive if you can afford it. We are twice sometimes triple as expensive as our competitors. But there is a premium attached to it. And also balancing work and life. Having fun and questioning things. Glad to work at a company that has these beliefs already in place.
December 30, 2016
Successful Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler has a different management philosophy: he believes we should treat employees like humans. Through his “radical” organizational democracy, he grew his company, Semco, by trusting his employees, letting them run themselves and encouraging dissent. Many of his beliefs are diametrically opposed to how most large organizations are currently run, disrupting the status quo of what we believe are the best practices in the world of work.
From another review on GoodReads: Semco went from a $5M company to a $300M company without a strategic plan, without a strict hierarchy, without rules and policies and instead chose to create a workforce that recognizes that people are responsible adults who do not need babysitters or a police state mentality to "manage them," because they can manage themselves.
My biggest takeaway from this book is that there are no universal rules to running a successful organization. It’s a powerful idea that management and organizational rules can be reinvented for the better. Semler shared many interesting anecdotes in this book, but his long, rambling and self-promoting style might rub many the wrong way. This might be on the reasons this book has not been as successful in corporate America as many other books in this genre.
From another review on GoodReads: Semco went from a $5M company to a $300M company without a strategic plan, without a strict hierarchy, without rules and policies and instead chose to create a workforce that recognizes that people are responsible adults who do not need babysitters or a police state mentality to "manage them," because they can manage themselves.
My biggest takeaway from this book is that there are no universal rules to running a successful organization. It’s a powerful idea that management and organizational rules can be reinvented for the better. Semler shared many interesting anecdotes in this book, but his long, rambling and self-promoting style might rub many the wrong way. This might be on the reasons this book has not been as successful in corporate America as many other books in this genre.
September 14, 2021
In this book, Ricardo Semler proposes a radical shift from the traditional 9 to 5, with its Monday to Friday schedule, the need for a dress code, and even set salaries (the employees have some latitude in deciding how much they would like to earn).
The funny thing is: this book is almost 20 years old. Some of the concepts are slowly being implemented (such as the possibility of working from home), but most of the ideas are still revolutionary.
And I was surprised to learn that the Semco industries already practiced what they preached at the time the book was written.
For me, the most valuable lesson isn't in a specific idea. Instead, it was the sense of asking "why" several times in a row, in order to get to the essence of things.
Also, the book reminded me that there are many ways of making things work.
(After all, traditional companies with their "old ways" are still generating value to society.
Nevertheless, if you do not fit in the mold, do not be afraid to create your own rules.
Important: don't be discouraged, but Seven-Day Weekend is not a praise of idleness - people at Semco may or may not work on weekends.
But they also may skip work on a Wednesday. And that is the thing: you can make it work for yourself, your values, and preferences.
The funny thing is: this book is almost 20 years old. Some of the concepts are slowly being implemented (such as the possibility of working from home), but most of the ideas are still revolutionary.
And I was surprised to learn that the Semco industries already practiced what they preached at the time the book was written.
For me, the most valuable lesson isn't in a specific idea. Instead, it was the sense of asking "why" several times in a row, in order to get to the essence of things.
Also, the book reminded me that there are many ways of making things work.
(After all, traditional companies with their "old ways" are still generating value to society.
Nevertheless, if you do not fit in the mold, do not be afraid to create your own rules.
Important: don't be discouraged, but Seven-Day Weekend is not a praise of idleness - people at Semco may or may not work on weekends.
But they also may skip work on a Wednesday. And that is the thing: you can make it work for yourself, your values, and preferences.
July 10, 2025
This book really isn't great. It's barely cohesive, and most of it has nothing to do with what the title implies. It does offer some glimpses into an organisation that is (or was?) run in quite a unique way. It certainly provides some interesting food for thought, but it falls completely short of being useful, in my perspective.
Most of this book is a series of anecdotes. Sometimes they seem to be strung together thematically, but sometimes the order and chapter grouping is completely bewildering. Some of the anecdotes are interesting or thought-provoking but some seem quite meaningless. The bigger challenge, however, is that an anecdote about a business doing things differently isn't really a call to action. It's one story about one company at one time, and it certainly doesn't mean you should change anything to emulate that company.
There is very little offered by Semler in the way of justification, explanation or evidence for his approach. He's simply relaying how he ran a company that he was handed by his father. I'm not disputing that they may have achieved impressive things but it's unclear whether this is because of or despite Semler's approach.
One thing that makes me suspicious is that Semler is clearly an unapologetic contrarian. He seems very motivated to do things differently. He seems to want to pursue the opposite way more than he wants to pursue the right way. It's not really surprising, therefore, that his anecdotes are all about doing things differently, but there is no convincing link drawn between the contrarian approaches and the successes.
Semler also does a lot of bragging of both the humble and not-so-humble variety in this book. Perhaps he's earned the right, but that's not really what I was after when I picked up a copy. I can't imagine I'm alone.
Maybe I'm lacking context about Semler. Maybe this is just the wrong medium, or even the wrong Semco book, but I just really didn't find it worth reading. I'm sure Ricardo Semler would appreciate my opinion for being contrary to the Goodreads masses.
Most of this book is a series of anecdotes. Sometimes they seem to be strung together thematically, but sometimes the order and chapter grouping is completely bewildering. Some of the anecdotes are interesting or thought-provoking but some seem quite meaningless. The bigger challenge, however, is that an anecdote about a business doing things differently isn't really a call to action. It's one story about one company at one time, and it certainly doesn't mean you should change anything to emulate that company.
There is very little offered by Semler in the way of justification, explanation or evidence for his approach. He's simply relaying how he ran a company that he was handed by his father. I'm not disputing that they may have achieved impressive things but it's unclear whether this is because of or despite Semler's approach.
One thing that makes me suspicious is that Semler is clearly an unapologetic contrarian. He seems very motivated to do things differently. He seems to want to pursue the opposite way more than he wants to pursue the right way. It's not really surprising, therefore, that his anecdotes are all about doing things differently, but there is no convincing link drawn between the contrarian approaches and the successes.
Semler also does a lot of bragging of both the humble and not-so-humble variety in this book. Perhaps he's earned the right, but that's not really what I was after when I picked up a copy. I can't imagine I'm alone.
Maybe I'm lacking context about Semler. Maybe this is just the wrong medium, or even the wrong Semco book, but I just really didn't find it worth reading. I'm sure Ricardo Semler would appreciate my opinion for being contrary to the Goodreads masses.
June 24, 2018
Just watch the Semler's Ted talk. If it's not motivating enough to read the book, I don't know what is.
Many preach democracy, transparency and freedom. Few practice them once in power — Ricardo is a notable exception.
Would like to hear more from Semco workers though. Rating and reviews on Glassdoor are not stellar: Semco Energy, Semco Plastics, Semco Maritime and Semco Instruments.
P.S. As with almost any business book, it could have easily been twice as short.
Many preach democracy, transparency and freedom. Few practice them once in power — Ricardo is a notable exception.
Would like to hear more from Semco workers though. Rating and reviews on Glassdoor are not stellar: Semco Energy, Semco Plastics, Semco Maritime and Semco Instruments.
P.S. As with almost any business book, it could have easily been twice as short.
January 8, 2018
Written rather in the style of self-help books (repetitive, with an enthusiasm I find often off-putting), the book has some very interesting insights though into the world of work and what could be changed about it. Basically... almost everything.
I very much liked the main assumption of the book: that working people are actually adults who should be treated (and empowered) as such and not mischievous children in need of control and punishment. The ideas put forward would merit serious attention, I think.
I very much liked the main assumption of the book: that working people are actually adults who should be treated (and empowered) as such and not mischievous children in need of control and punishment. The ideas put forward would merit serious attention, I think.
March 8, 2018
An interesting and absorbing read, which goes (as one may expect) much farther than his famous TED Talk. I've long been an admirer of his style and approach, but hadn't delved into the intricate detail of how and what until now. Utterly fascinating and a real lesson in leadership. A bible for anyone starting a new business and wanting to create a different type of organisation in terms of self-governing democracy etc. Some great ideas and pointers.
January 23, 2020
What a fantastic book. The author shows what it means to actually have democracy in the organization. It's full of examples of both the good and bad side of business decisions. It's a challenge to entrepreneurs everywhere. It's tough for hr folks and consultants too as many home truths are held up to us.
It's sad that the book has been in existence since 2003 and is hardly known. It's worse when you see the amount of junk books which promise the world and barely deliver a map.
It's sad that the book has been in existence since 2003 and is hardly known. It's worse when you see the amount of junk books which promise the world and barely deliver a map.
August 12, 2017
This model of management where there is autonomy and completely lack of micromanagement is one I wish was the norm. This book was about 100 page too long, however, as he rambles on with stories that are kind of repetitive. And the book has no how-to information, which is to be expected, as he runs his companies with no rules.
September 26, 2017
An inspiring read all about giving your employees more trust. They are adults so treat them like adults. Stop monitoring them all the time. Focus on the results they provide for the business and that's it.
You'll leave this book with many great ideas to try in your business, but it's not a guidebook on how to implement them all next week. You'll have to do some trial and error to get that.
You'll leave this book with many great ideas to try in your business, but it's not a guidebook on how to implement them all next week. You'll have to do some trial and error to get that.
August 7, 2017
Highly recommended to anyone who's questioning whether there's life at the end of this rat race. Additionally, this book should be required reading for all leaders of organizations and for anyone in the business of running a business or leading people.
July 1, 2018
You would never know that Ricardo Semler's style of management will work in real life.
You will believe it when you read it .( Stealing phrase from my other favourite book by Wayne Dyer's You will see it when you believe it ).
You will believe it when you read it .( Stealing phrase from my other favourite book by Wayne Dyer's You will see it when you believe it ).
July 6, 2018
Semco style was een stuk interessanter. Dit boek heeft wel leuke voorbeelden van hoe Semco georganiseerd is en hoe het dus anders kan, maar was voor mij veel te langdradig. Daardoor moeilijk doorheen te komen.
May 11, 2017
Together with maverick this changed my view on work, weekends, stillness and leisure. It actually changed my life.
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