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šŸ¤˜šŸ» Corporate Rebels

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Featured Post

🤟 Five days on Necker Island with Richard Branson. Here’s what we learned.

We arrived by boat. Forty impact entrepreneurs. Brought together by Forming Impact, from all corners of the world. The sky was burning blue, the water impossibly clear. And there it was: Necker Island. On the dock stood a man in shorts and flip-flops, waving as we pulled up to the shore. Richard Branson, grinning like a kid on holiday, there to welcome us in person. It was surreal. But also, strangely normal. No security guards. No PR team. Just a curious, kind, slightly sunburned man, ready...

A month ago, white smoke curled from a chimney in Rome. Crowds gathered. News anchors speculated. The world held its breath. A new pope was about to be revealed. But while most waited for the name to be spoken, a small group of researchers from Bocconi University already knew it. Not because of divine prophecy. Because of data. By analyzing the relational structure of the Vatican’s inner circle (who consulted whom, who trusted whom, who spent time with whom) they predicted the outcome before...

Last week, in a warehouse just outside Barcelona, a plain cardboard box sat on a wooden chair. It wasn’t there for shipping. It was a ballot box. Around it, just under fifty workers gathered. Some in overalls, some in steel-toe boots, many with grease still on their hands. One by one, they stepped forward, slipped in their vote, and returned to their seat. What were they voting on? Whether or not to sell their company to us. Let me explain. Not your average acquisition Our other company,...

Joost Minnaar

This morning I read a piece in Harvard Business Review — the apex of thoughtful, measured, data-rich corporate discourse — titled ā€œWhat’s the Future of Middle Management?ā€ Spoiler: It's not extinction. The authors make a reasonable case: middle managers are still vital because of their unique position in the organizational food chain. But — and it's a big but — to stay relevant, they need to shrink in numbers and evolve in function. Less compliance cop, more talent developer. Less...

Pim De Morree

It was hot, loud, and late in SĆ£o Paulo. We had just arrived, jet-lagged and buzzing with questions, about to meet one of the most iconic figures in the world of radical work design. The restaurant was sharp—white tablecloths, waiters with straight backs, and Ricardo Semler at the center of it all. He spoke with fire. Ideas about trust, freedom, decentralization, democracy at work. His vision was bold, clean, and intoxicating. But it wasn’t until later—hours later, in a quiet living room...

Joost Minnaar

Hi Reader, One of my highlights every year? The 6-week masterclasses we run a few times annually. In each masterclass, we guide a cohort of about 30 practitioners through how to move their organizations beyond hierarchy. It’s a deep dive into progressive organizational design—topped off with hands-on work transforming their own organizations. No more layers of bureaucracy, no more sluggish decision-making, no more command-and-control nonsense. Just real tools for building better ways of...

Pim De Morree

Ever since we ditched our corporate jobs and kicked off Corporate Rebels, we’ve been on a mission: end the frustration and inefficiencies of traditional management. We knew (or let’s be honest, hoped) to turn Corporate Rebels into a global movement. And ā€œmovementā€ is the word we used from day one. But truth is, we weren’t a movement. Not yet. We were a team of workplace geeks with a big audience. Powerful? Sure. But not nearly as powerful as a true movement can be. So, 14 months ago, with...

Joost Minnaar

Hi Reader, One of the most common questions I hear in self-managing organizations is: "How do you grow your career when there’s no hierarchy?" For many, career progression means climbing the corporate ladder—getting a promotion, earning a new title, managing a bigger team. But what happens when there’s no boss to promote you? This month in our Corporate Rebels Community, we’re exploring career growth in self-managing organizations. It’s a hot topic in our Masterclass on Running and Scaling...

Pim De Morree

Hi Reader, I've seen it happen countless times. A growing organization reaches about 50 people and suddenly things start to fall apart. Communication breaks down. Decision-making slows to a crawl. Politics emerge. And the entrepreneurial spirit that fueled early growth? Gone. Most leaders respond by adding more control. More managers. More coordination meetings. More reporting. They do exactly what they shouldn't. Last month, I talked to a 120-person manufacturing company in Germany that was...

Joost Minnaar

Hi Reader, In Pim’s latest newsletter, he shared how we bought and transformed Indaero into a self-managing company. But what if you’re not the owner? What if you’re the transformation agent or consultant leading the charge? How do you make it work when you don’t have the power to make unilateral decisions? For the past month, I’ve been deep in the mechanics of self-management transformations, analyzing Q&A sessions from our Masterclass cohorts with Jabi Salcedo from the consulting team K2K....