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.

Jabi and his colleagues have spent years doing what many organizations only dream about—ditching hierarchy and building companies that run on trust, autonomy, and collective decision-making. But let’s be real: this stuff is hard. You don’t just wake up one day and say, “Hey, let’s be self-managing now!” and expect it to work.

Self-management isn’t a switch—it’s a process. And it’s messy.

So how do you do it without completely derailing your company? K2K’s method is one of the most structured, no-nonsense approaches I’ve seen. It’s practical, battle-tested, and most importantly—it works.

Here’s the playbook.

Step 1: Get Your House in Order (3-4 Months)

Before you even think about making the leap, talk to the people who can kill the transformation before it even starts.

• Owners: If they don’t get it, you’re doomed. Self-management isn’t something you “try”—it’s a fundamental shift in how a company operates. If the owners aren’t 100% in, don’t bother.
• Managers: Some will thrive in the new world. Some won’t. The key is honest conversations. Can they evolve into a coordinator (K2K’s version of the CEO) Do they want to? If not, work together to find them another role—or a way out.
• Unions: In industrial settings, unions are a fact of life. At K2K, unions don’t get special status once self-management kicks in. No backroom deals. No special committees. Everyone makes decisions with consent. If unions don’t like it, they at least need to understand it.

Why this matters:​
✔ Stops resistance before it snowballs.
✔ Filters out people who can’t (or won’t) adapt.
✔ Avoids legal and structural nightmares down the road.

Step 2: Get Employees Involved Early (3 Months)

Self-management doesn’t work unless people actually want it.

• Educate: Books, articles, case studies. Give people time to wrap their heads around what this means. Our Corporate Rebels membership is pefect for this.
• Expose: Organize company visits so employees can see it in action. Once they meet real people working without bosses, it stops feeling like a crazy experiment. Our Rebel Cell network is perfect for this.
• Vote: At the end of this phase, hold a general assembly. If 80% of employees vote “yes,” you move forward. If not? You don’t. No forcing. No pushing. No mandates from the top.

Why this matters:​
✔ Eliminates the “we didn’t sign up for this” excuse.
✔ Builds momentum by showing real-world examples.
✔ Creates a clear mandate for change.

Step 3: Diagnose Before You Operate (2 Months)

Once employees say yes, the deep dive begins.

• Interviews: Sit down with all employees. What’s working? What’s broken?
• Values Check: Rank the company on the 10 key values that you think are most important—for example, transparency, trust, equality, personal development, freedom, etc.
• Reality Check: By the time you’ve interviewed 50% of employees, you already know 90% of the answers. But this step isn’t about new information—it’s about making people feel heard.

Why this matters:​
✔ Helps you avoid fixing things that aren’t broken.
✔ Surfaces real pain points (not just what leaders think is wrong).
✔ Builds trust—because people will not trust a system they had no voice in designing.

Step 4: Move Fast or Get Stuck in Chaos (3-4 Months)

This is where companies screw up. They say, “Let’s go slow so people can adjust.”

Wrong.

Slow kills momentum. Slow confuses people. Slow creates chaos. Once people are on board, you act fast.

The first three changes happen immediately:

1. Dismantling Hierarchy
   • No more “bosses.” Instead, self-managed teams with chosen representatives take over.
   • For major decisions, use an 80% consent model—no endless debates, no single person holding progress hostage.
2. Radical Transparency
   • The traditional profit and loss (P&L) system is replaced with a simplified, open-book model so that everyone understands the company’s financial situation.
   • Salaries, expenses, and financial results are transparent to the entire organization.
3. Redesigning Salaries
   • Simplified levels: Instead of 20 layers of pay grades, K2K caps it at 4-7 levels.
   • Income fairness: Over time, the gap between the top 10% and bottom 10% of earners shrinks to a max of 2.5x.
   • Profit-sharing: part of the company’s profits are distributed among employees.

Why this matters:​
✔ Eliminates uncertainty—people know the new structure now, not six months from now.
✔ Creates financial fairness while maintaining incentives.
✔ Stops the organization from slipping back into old habits.

Step 5: Train People How to Function Without Bosses (40-80 Hours of Training)

If you think people can just “figure it out,” you’re setting them up for failure.

These training is not optional.

• How to make decisions without a boss telling you what to do.
• How to handle conflict without running to HR.
• How to read finanical statements.
• How to build trust (and avoid breaking it).

At K2K, employees go through 40-80 hours of training to build these skills. It’s not just about learning—it’s about creating a common language so everyone is on the same page. Our Self-Management Bootcamp is perfect for this.

Why this matters:​
✔ Makes the transition way less painful.
✔ Stops minor issues from escalating into company-wide drama.
✔ Ensures people don’t default back to old habits.

Step 6: Adjust, Iterate, Improve

No company gets it perfect on Day 1. Self-management isn’t a destination—it’s a system that keeps evolving.

• Keep learning: Employees visit other self-managed companies to get fresh ideas. Again, our Rebel Cell network is perfect for this.
• Keep refining: Structures shift. Roles change. People adapt.
• Keep questioning: If something doesn’t work, change it. There’s no “final version” of self-management.

Why this matters:​
✔ Prevents the transformation from stagnating.
✔ Encourages a culture of continuous improvement.
✔ Reinforces that self-management is not a one-time event—it’s a mindset.

The Bottom Line: K2K’s Process Works

K2K’s approach is the blueprint in structured transformation. It’s not magic. It’s not a guessing game. It’s a clear, step-by-step process that helps companies ditch hierarchy, avoid chaos, and actually make self-management work.

If you’re serious about making this happen in your organization, follow the structure. Don’t half-ass it. Don’t skip steps. Do the work, and the results will follow.

Ready to Build a Self-Managing Organization?

This is exactly what we help companies do in our 6-week Corporate Rebels Masterclass. If you’re ready to go beyond theory and start designing your own self-managing organization, our next cohorts kick off in March & April.

Spots are limited—secure yours today.

Updates from Corporate Rebels HQ

Here's a quick overview of everything happening at Corporate Rebels:

• Switzerland: Join us on March 19, 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland, for “Beyond Hierarchy with Corporate Rebels,” an exclusive event for leaders/owners/CEOs where we’ll explore the power of self-managed teams through keynotes, interactive sessions, and networking opportunities.
• Wintersport: The Corporate Rebels team has swapped work for snow this week – carving up slopes (and maybe a few ideas) in Sankt Anton! ⛷️🎿

New article

A new article has been published on our blog earlier this week:

• 40 Activities Ranked by Happiness: Work Ranks 39th, Just Above Being Sick​
  Turns out, people would rather do almost anything than work—literally. A massive study ranking 40 daily activities by happiness puts work at #39, just one spot above being sick in bed (let that sink in). The fix? Rethink how, where, and why we work—because right now, the office is losing to the common cold. Check out the full article here.

What inspired us

Here's something noteworthy we discovered this past week that you’re going to love:

• Making sense in “less-hierarchical” forms of organizing
  ​Many companies dream of breaking free from rigid hierarchies, embracing self-management and radical autonomy. Until chaos kicks in and hierarchy sneaks back in. New research on a Swedish software company shows that without clear alternatives, companies trying to eliminate hierarchy end up rebuilding it in disguise. The lesson? Without a clear playbook, even the most ambitious companies often default back to the org charts they once burned. Check it out here.

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Cheers,

Time-Limited Offer: Complimentary Lifetime Access (only 6 spots left!) A new Masterclass, "Running and Scaling Self-Managing Organizations" kicks off on March 11! ​ If you enroll before February 20, you’ll get: Lifelong access to our online community—monthly events, exclusive interviews, cutting-edge case studies, and more. Unlimited access to your Masterclass content, beyond the usual one-year limit. Ongoing access to all current & future on-demand courses (worth €948/year). ​ That's right - all of this is included in the one-time Masterclass fee of €5,000—no annual subscription fees, ever. ​ But act fast—this offer is limited, and only 6 spots remain! Click below to learn more. ​ Explore the offer

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