Ricardo Semler

“One of the things that is very silly - and I hear from educators all the time - is that schools essentially teach kids to learn. They don't need school for that. Learning is what they do best.”

“If you look at any kind of modern organization and you think, 'What are the foremost tools of power?' You will find that it is information.”

“People are responsible adults at home. Why do we suddenly transform them into adolescents with no freedom when they reach the workplace?”

“Bill Gore from Goretex was a very strong influence because he was one of the first larger companies to experiment with freedom in the workplace.”

“The best way to invest corporate profits is to give them to the employees.”

“People are too keen to follow standard preconceptions of how organisations should work. All too often, we feel that we are unable to make changes and so hope that someone, somewhere in your organisation knows what we are doing and what the overall aim is.”

“No-one works for money alone and tapping into what people want from their careers and what they have to offer is essential.”

“The purpose of work is not to make money. The purpose of work is to make the workers, whether working stiffs or top executives, feel good about life.”

“Once employees feel challenged, invigorated and productive, their efforts will naturally translate into profit and growth for the organisation.”

“I once worked it out - after $12 million, all millionaires are the same. That's because we're all humans, confined to human scale. How many homes can you live in? How many meals can you eat? You can have a living room the size of a cathedral, but you won't live in it. It's too big.”

“Growth and profit are a product of how people work together.”

“A high percentage of organisations develop a military rationale, whereby only a very small number of people make all of the decisions. There is little wonder, then, that people aren't keen to get out of bed and come to work on a Monday morning.”

“In life, we do not give employees enough leeway. If you look around Semco's office, there are plenty of empty desks. The question is - where are these people? I do not have the slightest idea, but I am not interested.”

“The purpose of work is to make the worker - whether a working stiff or a CEO - feel good about life.”

“The key to getting work done on time is to stop wearing a watch.”

“The key to management is to get rid of the managers.”