Ricardo Semler Quotes

People are responsible adults at home. Why do we suddenly transform them into adolescents with no freedom when they reach the workplace?

If we do not let people do things the way they do, we will never know what they are really capable of and they will just follow our boarding school rules.

Once employees feel challenged, invigorated and productive, their efforts will naturally translate into profit and growth for the organisation.

People have a reservoir of talent worth discovering. They just have to be given the opportunity to discover it in themselves

The key to management is to get rid of the managers.

Every one of us has learned how to send emails on Sunday night. But how many of us know how to go a movie on Monday afternoon. You've unbalanced your life without balancing it with someone else.

Man is by nature restless. When left too long in one place he will inevitably grow bored, unmotivated, and unproductive.

For a company to excel, employees must be reassured that self-interest, not the company's, is their foremost priority. We believe an employee who puts himself first will be motivated to perform.

Human nature demands recognition. Without it, people lose their sense of purpose and become dissatisfied, restless, and unproductive.

There is no contest between the company that buys the grudging compliance of its work force and the company that enjoys the enterprising participation of its employees

If you look at any kind of modern organization and you think, 'What are the foremost tools of power?' You will find that it is information.

If you are giving back, you took too much.

The purpose of work is not to make money. The purpose of work is to make the workers, whether working stiffs or top executives, feel good about life.

No-one works for money alone and tapping into what people want from their careers and what they have to offer is essential.

Large, centralized organizations foster alienation like stagnant ponds breed algae.

I believe no one can afford, endure or can stomach leaving half a life in the parking lot when she or he goes to work. It's a lousy way to live and a lousy way to work.

Growth and profit are a product of how people work together.

The best way to invest corporate profits is to give them to the employees.

We have absolute trust in our employees. In fact, we are partners with them.

Bill Gore from Goretex was a very strong influence because he was one of the first larger companies to experiment with freedom in the workplace.

The key to getting work done on time is to stop wearing a watch.

Only two things grow for the sake of growth: businesses and tumors.