The Seven-Day Weekend

I bought this after stumbling across a review when i was looking for information on a new job role i had. I have spent 15 years in retail management and now 10 in insurance as a manager and now a director. I am still hamstrung by more senior directors but where i can i follow the principles of this remarkable book that effectively throws all we know about managing people out of the window and rewrites how to manage and run not only profitable business but a motivated one and changes the basic foundations of lots of people working `AT' XXXX company to lots of people working 'FOR' their company and that is a massive difference. I love it, love it, it is a slow start but then builds momentum, the changes start from the employees one aspect of it is recruiting their managers, sounds odd but if the incentive is to achieve a tough but achievable target on project X and you will all benefit by getting Y then people will want a manager that can help them achieve it. I won't spoil it all but if you have not been turned into an automated drone manager and have a mind of your own then this is worth a good read, the `thou must wear a 3 pce suit and must work 9 -5' will hate it (I gave this to my MD and he `lost' it when he was away on business!!!). The sooner managers/ Directors/ Owners realise that once you have motivated, happy and energised employee's the quicker and easier everything becomes.

Following on from "Maverick", this book illustrated the practical application of Semler's ideas with hundreds of colourful examples from the daily operations of Semco. Witty, fascinating insights into the application of a refreshing approach to business that stress the respect for everyone's unique ideas in the team.

This is a question you will find yourself asking all throughout this book.Although Semler doesn't write a very logical or chronological story, hemakes it a point NOT to be logic, but rather to ask you triggeringquestions and give examples of how things can be done differently. Suchas: how come we find it acceptable to anwer e-mails on Sunday afternoon,but it is not done to skip work to go to the movie on Monday afternoon?Or: why should I move closer to work, instead of work move closer to me?(Semco has invested in work cafes at the edge of town, thus preventingthat people have to go through rush hour traffic.) The many practicalexamples make the book compelling. It gives you an immediate boost to makechanges in your own working environment. Must-read if you find yourself tired of the way things work in yourcompany!

Really interesting book. For me it brings hope back to humanity :) Many ideas I got and none seams to shear around me I found within this book. Bringing democracy to work place is the way forward.

The book is really good. I am not very much into business-business books. This is the one that links real-life experience and wisdom with an individual's work life and business as such. Highly recommended.

One of the most Important Business Books ever written. It is without any question a masterpiece. I have bought many copies of this book and give them as gifts to colleagues and suppliers.

I rated this book so highly I gave this and Maverick to one of our key suppliers, who has been delighted with the fresh insights he has gained.

A worthwhile read

Superb, thought provoking, a real life example of how capitalism should be. Semler was from the beginning, over 20 years ago (read his 1st book "Maverick") a new age, highly successful and moral business leader. His story should be required reading for ALL business leaders and college/university business school programs. The book arrived on time, in perfect condition.......and it was a very good price. Paul Wilson

Breaking down the structure of an organisation that we all consider as "crucial" without know why. Ricardo talks about diversifying businesses, without necessarily introducing all the complexities that would follow within a "standard" organisation. Emphasis is on the workforce rather than infrastructure, which is something that most companies lose sight of as they grow in size. Still reading, and like it so far!

Stop what you are doing. Pull the car out of traffic gridlock. Hit the park, hang a hammock, and just absorb these words. A titanic shift in organizational leadership lies within. Keep your stick and your carrot and give me back my life! As a leader of one of the fastest growing companies on earth (starts with a big A) I am ready to start the healing. Do I truly trust my people? Have I given them the chance to prove their potential? If they believe in the customer experience then why do they run for the door when the clock strikes 6pm? Because I have failed to ask why. I am giving up control and trusting that we can do better. The revolution for me starts now!

What Ricardo Semler has done with Semco really looks like science-fiction. It seems he has challenged every basic principles a lot of people take for granted to run a business, and one cannot stop wondering how this actually worked out well. For those who have read a bit about Collective Intelligence (e.g. "Booster l'intelligence collective"), Semco is the real-life (and successful!) laboratory for this paradigm, using self-management instead of carrot-and-stick. The basis: if you share a common goal, if you trust that people are intelligent adult human beings able to define what is best for themselves and for the company, if everything is transparent enough to enable decision-making (including detailed accounting and salaries), if you are able to relinquish control, then you don't need all those activities that don't really add value, the company will be agile and efficient, and employees will be happy. Just a few examples. Let people choose their working hours, choose their working location, decide their own personal-professional balance. Let them free to attend (or not) any meeting. Let any of them meet candidates in a tribal-like selection process, and vote for the preferred one. Let them decide their own salaries. Let them decide if it's better to close their own factory and lose their job now or hang on and put their compensation at risk. No procedures, no rules, no written values, no written strategy, no planning further than 6 months ahead, and not even a statement defining what the company actually does. Really difficult to apply as such, I still don't understand how one can make this work to such extent. That was probably possible because Semco is not a publicly held company with short-term quartely results to guarantee (a principle he despises). But this book is definitely excellent food for thought about trusting the people, embracing diversity (join rule-makers with rule-breakers), respecting dissent, enhancing people's creativity and initiative.

Most company hierarchy could do with reading this. If you take a few small ideas away from this you will be running a better organisation. Allowing people some say in how they do their job is so refreshing, and sadly lacking in many organisations. Making people stay at work for set hours, even if they gave nothing to do is a ridiculous waste of time. Semler gives autonomy to his employees and it works. Well worth reading