Meeting of the Waters: The Rio Negro is a darker, slower, and much heavier body of water than the Rio Solimoes. They meet near Manaus to form the Amazon.
Semco
During a recent trip to Brazil I had the opportunity to visit several cities and companies. First stop was the Amazon basin (that's me behind the little caiman. I took the photo of the meeting of the waters during a trip down the Amazon), then Brasilia and finally Sao Paulo.
In Sao Paulo I visited Semco. You may have heard of this unusual company. It's the subject of case studies at 76 universities (Thunderbird has one online) and texts about their organization are read at more than 270 schools. Ricardo Semlar, the young CEO of Semco, wrote a bestseller in the 1988 titled Maverick. After visiting the company and meeting with a senior exec, the reason behind all the interest became obvious.
The company excels at breaking all current management paradigms (no taboos, one exec called it). It has 3,000 employees, but no permanent headquarters; no regular office hours; you are encouraged not to sit at the same desk for more than two days in a row; a managing board with nine seats - two of which are always open for employees who sign up on first-come, first-served basis; welcoming unions and the list goes on. But just as the study of the Toyota Operating System will not ensure exact replication in another company, so too the focus on Semco should be more on the DNA of their management philosophy without getting too caught up in their techniques - although that is difficult because they are very interesting. There are no long term plans, no missions or dogmas - it's more about the engagement and involvement of every employee. The "whyway" is Semler's term for allowing everyone to ask why. In his book The Seven-Day Weekend, Semlar points to their cardinal strategy, "We ask why repeatedly. And nothing gets carved in stone. That's because as a company we hate written plans. People will follow a plan like a Pied Piper - mindlessly, with no thoughts as to the final destination."
We had an interesting meeting at Semco. When asked how employees managed having no permanent work area, our host (a long-time employee and senior executive in the company) told us "We are not kangaroos. Most documents are digital but we do have mobile file cabinets that can be locked and large briefcases available for work from home." They seem to have a coined name or phrase for everything. He called their hiring practice "family silverwear" - they have the entire team of a particular unit interview any potential candidates and a premium is placed on hiring from within. And the only evaluations that occur are from subordinates to the managers.
When they asked how they generate new ideas, he called it "Watermelon Phase" - open the truck gate and they come spilling out... He spoke about an incident when a union wanted employees of a Semco unit to strike. The employees listened and then decided they did not want to strike because they felt such ownership for the direction and well-being of the company. He called that "the day the banana ate the monkey".
He emphasized the "de-concentration of knowledge" and the trust and transparency that come with that. Salaries are regularly reviewed by entire teams and posted publicly.
New ideas come from "Growing bees in the sky." Monthly meetings are held called "C' ta loko?" meaning "are you crazy?" These are no holds bared meetings where employees can attend if they want - no one is required to attend - and they are only required to "talk about things that are unthinkable." In one of these meetings an employee pointed out that since their logo is always changing (there are no brand standards) why not create a web application that will automatically change it frequently. They plan to use the idea.
The meeting was energizing and stimulating to me - especially since much of it was counter to my corporate training. You never know where new ideas will come from, or how they will apply. But this 3,000 person company is growing nicely and has set an interesting benchmark for the rest of us.