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 working. We’ve just passed the halfway point of our March/April masterclass. And once again, it’s been a blast. This cohort is a diverse mix:
Last week, we wrapped up week four. So far, we’ve laid the foundation for understanding something essential: the different flavors of progressive organizations. Yes, you read that right—flavors. A lot of future-of-work gurus and academics still treat progressive organizations like there’s just one way to do it. Like there’s a black-and-white divide between hierarchical and non-hierarchical. But real-world progressive organizations aren’t cookie-cutter. There are at least three distinct flavors we’ve explored in the masterclass—each with its own logic, culture, and vibe. We call them: 1. The big family We started with Buurtzorg, the Dutch healthcare company with 10,000+ nurses organized into 1,000+ self-managing teams. I’ve actually developed a teaching case on them for Harvard Business School. Buurtzorg doesn’t run on hierarchy—it runs on solidarity and mutual care. They’re like one big family. Our cohort interviewed Thijs de Blok from Buurtzorg to understand how they work with collective team responsibility, a strong online community, and consensus-based decision-making. 2. The group of friends Next up: Viisi, a Dutch mortgage advice company with around 50 employees. They run on Holacracy, but more than that—they feel like a group of friends. The vibe is peer-based, rooted in equality and reciprocity. Our cohort spoke with Marc-Peter Pijper from Viisi and explored how they use circles, roles, elected representatives, and consent-based decision-making. 3. The marketplace This week we explored something radically different: Haier, the Chinese whitegoods giant. They’re not a family. Not a group of friends. They’re a marketplace—a company made up of internal entrepreneurs competing and collaborating within a decentralized ecosystem. (I also wrote a teaching case on this one for INSEAD.) The cohort interviewed Antonio Boadas to hear how Haier’s U.S. subsidiary GEA brought market-based dynamics into a traditional legacy business. What have we learned? All three of these organizations have moved beyond hierarchy—but in completely different ways. Each has its own interpretation of what it means to be human at work. And they’re just as different from each other as they are from the traditional corporate world. Understanding these differences is critical before even thinking about transforming your own organization. And that’s exactly what’s next. Now that we’ve explored the core designs of progressive organizations, we’re ready to move into transformation mode. Each cohort needs to pick a flavor to focus on—and this time, we’re diving into the “group of friends” model: the equality-driven organization. We’ll apply the four steps of our NER transformation model, using Indaero as a case study—a company we bought and transformed through our impact fund, Krisos. It’s a powerful real-world example of how this works in practice. I can’t wait to explore the transformations with this group in the final weeks. And if you want to join the next cohort—it kicks off June 24. This one’s perfect for practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region (and early risers in Europe)—sessions run from 08:00 to 10:00 CET. Click here to learn more, or forward this to someone you think would love it. Updates from Corporate Rebels HQHere's a quick overview of everything happening at Corporate Rebels:
New articleA new article has been published on our blog earlier this week:
What inspired usHere's something noteworthy we discovered this past week that you’re going to love:
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In preparing for the summer '25 cohort of our Corporate Rebels Masterclass, I had conversations with two founders of wildly successful self-managing organizations. Both run companies without traditional hierarchies. Because both believe in autonomy, trust, and ditching command-and-control. But when I asked them how decisions are made, I got two completely different answers. One said: "We like to reach consensus. We only move forward when everyone agrees. It's part of our culture to find the...
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