Three Whys and the Reason
Seth Godin has posted a great blog entry called The Reason about why we often do things the way we do because that's the way we've always done them, or for legacy reasons -- reasons that might've made sense once, but not any more. The QWERTY keyboard layout is a classic example.
Reading his post reminded me of a book I read a few years ago by Ricardo Semler called The Seven-Day Weekend. Here's an excerpt:
What's so different about Semco? For a start, nobody has a title. They get to set their own salaries (and everybody else knows how much it is). Employees evaluate and participate in the hiring of their bosses. Every employee has access to the books (and the company runs courses to teach them how to understand them). Employees set their own schedules. They dress however they want. In other words, the people at Semco question everything, and change the rules when they don't make any sense.
Ricardo has writter two books about the Semco story, and they're both worth reading. The first is called Maverick! The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Company, and the other's called The Seven-Day Weekend The Wisdom Revolution: Finding the Work/Life Balance.
If you're the type of person that questions everything, and have wondered what it would be like to work at a place where everybody questions everything, you really ought to read these books.
Reading his post reminded me of a book I read a few years ago by Ricardo Semler called The Seven-Day Weekend. Here's an excerpt:
Ask why. Ask it all the time, and always ask it three times in a row. This doesn't come naturally. People are conditioned to recoil from questioning too much. First, it's rude and dangerous. Second, it may imply we're ignorant or uninformed. Third, it means everything we think we know may not be correct or true. Fourth, management is usually frightened by the prospect of employees who question continually. But mostly, it means putting aside all the rote or pat answers that have resulted from what I call 'crystallized' thinking, that state of mind where ideas have so hardened into inflexible and unquestioned concepts that hey're no longer of any use....Semler is the unorthodox CEO of a very unusual Brazilian company called Semco. Semco is one of Latin America's fastest-growing companies and is considered one of the best to work for, with a waiting list of thousands of applicants trying for a chance to work there.
Any parent of a toddler (as I am) understands the value of questions. When the child asks the first why, you give a careful, adult version of the 'right' answer. This is closely followed by the second why from the child. You then stutter a little, and respond with even more care. Now, after this second explanation, a third why makes its way from that tiny mouth. After that third why, no matter what the subject, there is only one solution: Buy the kid an ice cream.
It's the same with most questions: Why do I have to wear a suit and tie, or why does that person make more than I do, or why does the company have to grow. Or why does the product only come in black, or why can't I exchange it after 10 days, or why do I have to stand in line for this or that.
None of these quandaries will hold up over three consecutive whys. The first and maybe second pat answers will break down by the third time they're questioned.
What's so different about Semco? For a start, nobody has a title. They get to set their own salaries (and everybody else knows how much it is). Employees evaluate and participate in the hiring of their bosses. Every employee has access to the books (and the company runs courses to teach them how to understand them). Employees set their own schedules. They dress however they want. In other words, the people at Semco question everything, and change the rules when they don't make any sense.
Ricardo has writter two books about the Semco story, and they're both worth reading. The first is called Maverick! The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Company, and the other's called The Seven-Day Weekend The Wisdom Revolution: Finding the Work/Life Balance.
If you're the type of person that questions everything, and have wondered what it would be like to work at a place where everybody questions everything, you really ought to read these books.
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