One of the most intriguing and thought-provoking management books I've ever read is the 1993 book, Maverick by Ricardo Semler.
Ricardo took over his father's business Semco not too long after he graduated from college. He knew he didn't want to run the business as his father had, so he started in small steps by getting his staff involved in all decisions of the business, not just small ones.
The results were phenomenal. In less than ten years, Semco grew 6x in spite of inflation, recessions, and a chaotic national policy Productivity grew 7x, profits up 5x, and one newspaper ad during this time period yielded 1.4k responses.
Even though Maverick is no longer in print, I still wanted to talk about it on the show. FP&A global thought leader Daniele Martins joins us to discuss the book from her unique perspective.
To learn more about the Ricardo Semler story along with participative leadership, here are a few resources:
- Managing Without Numbers - HBR
- Ricardo's Ted Talk - How to Run a Company With Almost No Rules
- Semco Style Institute
- Corporate Rebels
- Shownotes on the CFO Bookshelf website
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