Observations from Seven Day Weekend - Semler

Over the past few months I have been looking for ways in which organizations have organized the organic.  In other words, how does a behemoth structure capitalize on the organic flow of the mission.  I have written before on how the church (the kingdom in fact) spontaneously expands, grows and continues to develop.  The parable of the seed is not only true on a micro level – it is true of the whole kingdom.

In this quest I stumbled across a book by Ricardo Semler who run Semco – a large Brazilian company that does just about everything and anything that contributes to their success.  Semler is leading a company that desires to change the way work works and, in doing so, capitalize on the realities of worker passions, self determination and democracy.  And by all accounts – they are doing it.  This is a fiery book to read, even though it is built on anecdote more than definable principles (ok, the principle is let people do what they want!).

This stirred my thinking – and there is plenty more.

Organizations mistakenly believe that productivity can always be raised.  Productivity stagnates or falls when workers are waiting for someone to tell them what to do, or when they’re following a formal plan, or confining themselves to the dictates of their job descriptions.  . . . . Self organized employee groups have discovered that they can harness extra productivity by eliminating the immense daily waste of time lost to unclear goals, adolescent-style rules, infighting and gossip . . .