Fresh out of Harvard Business School, Ricardo Semler returned to work for Semco, his father's company in his home country of Brazil. Upon returning, he realized that there was something inherent in the business's organization that he greatly disliked: the autocratic managerial model that disrupted diversity and organizational production. After a few years, Semler took over management and began to implement change.

Semler's newest book "The Seven Day Weekend" epitomizes his philosophy. After taking over Semco he worked himself to death trying to run the business, eventually fainting from exhaustion while on a visit to one of his factories. Semler realized he needed to change his life as well as the organization of his company. What he did next was truly revolutionary, turning common managerial practices on their head.

Semler realized that when workers try to please their manager, they're less likely to create innovative products that boost diversity and progression. He saw that workers were too concerned with pleasing a boss and not concerned enough with the actual product they were creating. After trying several different managerial strategies, Semler adopted a "lattice organization" in which self-managed groups of six to ten manufacturing employees are placed in charge of every aspect involving production. To promote a true sense of ownership over the entire process, the groups handle their budgets, productions, and salary. Upon implementation costs fell dramatically while sales went through the roof. This democratic approach to management drastically reduced employee complaints regarding the allocation of funds, while at the same time exemplifying Semco's trust in their employee's ability to make decisions and carry them out efficiently. Semler believes that his company will find success in an environment rich with freedom, choice, and innovation. He explains that,"It's as free market as we can make it. People bring their talents and we rely on their self-interest to use the company to develop themselves in any way they see fit. In return, they must have the self-discipline to perform."

At Semco, subordinates choose their managers, and also decide how much they are paid and when they work. Meetings are voluntary, and two seats at board meetings are open to the first employees who turn up. Salaries are made public along with all of the company's other financial information. Sounds like a recipe for chaos, right? Yet Semco has surfed Brazil's rough economic and political currents with panache, growing at a consistent 40% a year. Revenue has gone from $4 million in 1982 to $249 million currently, exploding with the arrival of Semler's innovative managerial tactics. Semco is the test case of what happens when a company actually puts the annual report-speak of "trust" and "delegation" into practice. The corollary of democracy and treating people as adults - the only real rules at Semco - is plenty of peer pressure and self-discipline.

Semco's policy manual is a mere twenty-pages and emphasizes not what an employee must do in accordance with how their managers direct them; rather, it encourages participation, stating that employees should not settle down, but should "give opinions, seek opportunities and advancement, and always say what they think." With a strategy like this Semco can't afford to have employees who see themselves as "just one more person in the company." Employees must see themselves as active partners and associates who democratically decide on investments and acquisitions. Semler's unusual business approach has established Semco as a model company of consistency and success by encouraging self-motivation, autonomy and improvement.