Why we cannot learn a damn thing from Toyota or Semco

The future of work is already here. Not only in the minds of some outstanding thinkers, high-minded idealists, quirky innovators and lofty utopians – or people like you who are reading this blog! No, the future of work and organizational leadership is tangible. It is out there in the real world: You can find it in the practice of a few dozen extraordinary, pioneering organizations that have cracked the code, solved the puzzle, removed all doubt. I’m talking about “the Toyotas” of this world. The W.L.Gores, the Southwest Airlines, the Googles, the Handelsbankens, the Semcos. Companies like these have been doing things differently for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years, in the case of Toyota. Yeah, we heard all that before! you say? Then I ask you: And what have we really learned from these incredibly great companies?

By Niels Pflaeging