26
" To date, I don’t know what changed in her. Could I have found out, by requesting information or talking to her in the corridor? Maybe. But could I have done that and not gotten involved? Process is king, I believe, and so these things have to play themselves out; there’s no right answer. Sure, it takes some organizational cold-bloodedness, and it might leave the reader, as well as many Semco employees, miffed or unconvinced. That, however, is the price for giving up policies, procedures, missions, and credos. Just as our aversion to long-term analysis is based on the realization that it can be a waste of time and energy to attempt to foresee every possible twist and turn of the road ahead, finding the root cause of every problem can also be unproductive. "
― Ricardo Semler , The Seven-Day Weekend
33
" Diversity is more than a politically correct buzzword. There’s a place for everyone at Semco, including those who are not impressed or in any other way moved by the Semco system. And there is also a place for those who find that a job is nothing but a job, and participation imposes a weight they’d rather not carry. Even those kinds of people are welcome because our culture finds them valuable. They teach us important lessons—e.g., how to listen, compromise, and communicate, and how to be patient, tolerant, and resilient. By making a place for the oddballs, the malcontents, and the incompatible, we accept the consequences, both positive and negative. Things may not go as smoothly or as fast, but maybe slowing down will let us catch our breath and see new opportunities instead of the usual blur. "
― Ricardo Semler , The Seven-Day Weekend