Removing (some of) my company rules in search of wisdom...

As many of you will know, by scrolling through my Instagram account, I have a really big passion for the people that form this company. In fact I have a passion for people around me in all aspects of life. So I started asking myself how can I give back? What do people value most?

After some thinking and reading, I came across this very inspirational TED Talk by Ricardo Semler, CEO of Semco Partners. Time featured him as part of the 100 young leaders profile in 1994 and he is well known for his radical form of corporate democracy.

In the clip I realised what people value most: Time. So I decided on trying a little experiment during the month of August. I will completely remove work hours from our production bakery. A daily production target will be set, and once it is reached, my staff can go home. We will however keep a close eye to make sure the product quality and consistency does not deviate from what is at the moment. To make sure everyone puts in the same amount of effort, they will be rated on a performance basis. However, this will not be done by me, but by their colleagues. And they will rate me on my performance and give feedback on where I can improve as well.

This is purely to create a better, more rewarding work environment for my staff.

Have a look at Ricardo Semler's talk to see the real definition of wisdom.

Have a fantastic week!

Eric