RICARDO SEMLER A COMMUNITY ORIENTATION TO BUSINESS THAT CONFLICTS WITH THE PREDOMINANT CAPITALIST MODEL

The key to management is to get rid of the managers. People are responsible adults at home. Why do we suddenly transform them into adolescents with no freedom when they reach the workplace? Once employees feel challenged, invigorated and productive, their efforts will naturally translate into profit and growth for the organisation. One of the things that is very silly- and I hear from educators all the time- is that schools essentially teach kids to learn. They don’t need school for that. Learning is what they do best. 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. People are too keen to follow standard preconceptions of how organisations should work. All too often, we feel that we are unable to make changes and so hope that someone, somewhere in your organisation knows what we are doing and what the overall aim is.

WHO IS RICARDO SEMLER? Ricardo Semler is known around the world for his innovative, employee-centric management styles. Born 1959 in Sào Paulo, Semler took over his fathers business at the age of twenty one with a new insight on the business world. He is the CEO and owner of Semco Partners, a Brazilian company best known for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering. Semler has become a very successful entrepreneur due to his unique style of leadership and business management, and taking on a democratic leadership style that many might disagree with.

DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE This style of leadership is to engage all members in the decision making process in a group or organisation. The leader of the group works together in a team as an ordinary participant and enables employees to establish targets and tasks. Subordinates have considerable freedom of action. The leader shows greater concern for his people’s interest, is friendly and helpful to them.

RICARDO SEMLER’S VISION ON LEADERSHIP Employees set their own working hours Employees choose their own salaries All meetings are voluntary and open to everyone Employees hire their own bosses HR has been abolished, because leaders need to be able to treat their employees right themselves Employees choose which leader they want to work under Employees can take early retirement, meaning they get one day a week off in return for working one day a week after they retire.

RICARDO SEMLER’S VALUES It is evident that Ricardo Semler has faith and hope in his employees and the work they complete. He is confident in his approach as he has gained results. However, his confidence comes from his core values: Participation and involvement Open communication High level of trust Work life balance Sharing information Openness and truthfulness Empowerment Collaboration Job satisfaction Take a look at the cultural and values approach to work practices! -Ricardo Semler-

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES The advantages and disadvantages to the approach that Semler takes include: Advantages Removing the notion of hierarchy to make all members on the same level Allowing members to feel that they are in control of their own lives and equally being treated Develops new innovative minds Allows employees to work at their own pace Disadvantages Members taking advantage of the freedom and not completing the work No guidance for the members within the organisation or group

RICARDO SEMLER’S VIEW ON EDUCATION Ricardo Semler believes education needs to change with the times, and that his innovative approach to business can in fact work in changing education. “Children are born learning to learn” “Where in our school system do we have a place for intuition?” “What are children retaining?” -Ricardo Semler-

RICARDO SEMLER’S MODEL OF EDUCATION Education Democracy Mosaic Curriculum Two kinds of Educators

THE LUMIAR SCHOOL Ricardo Semler set up a foundation known as Lumiar School, which are schools that are structured to promote creative confidence. He takes on a unique approach to learning for children, as it is centered on the notion that children will grow up to be responsible and free-thinking adults if they weren’t held back by the constraints of conventional education. The key principles of this program are: splitting educators role into two - the Tutor and the Master Tutors- who provide guidance and assistance to a group of students during their activities and interact both with them and with their parents. Masters- who specialize in several fields of knowledge and are responsible for planning and coordinating learning projects, evaluating the development of the competences and skills of the students who take part in these projects. The Circle- kids and faculty get together on a weekly basis to discuss and solve issues that are at the school. This exercise in problem solving helps with building the children's creativity. Also having them receive positive feedback from their peers, during the process, helps with their confidence and sense of purpose.

CORE CURRICULUM VS MOSAIC CURRICULUM The traditional method of learning is through core curriculum that is structured and has been created for all students to learn in a classroom environment. This traditional method is what all students of the same age around the state or country learn. Mosaic curriculum is different as there is no structured curriculum. It covers a wide range of aspects of human knowledge, allows students to learn various things, which leads them to the cognitive path they are taking. This type of curriculum allows students to build their own process, which takes the subject to a different level of understanding.

THE LEARNING DESIGN In todays society the way in which students learn has changed dramatically due to technology, however, the following learning design highlights that learning can be everywhere. Semler demonstrates that learning can be conducted in ways that allows students to explore. For instance it can be around the lunch table, in the play area and in the hallway. The important part is that it is collaborative learning and the student has an input.

EVALUATION It is crucial that we evaluate our work and the work of our students as it influences on peoples thinking. For example at Lumiar, evaluations have a constructive nature whose purpose is to boost the learner’s development. Constant engagement is in helping students to become aware of what they are learning or to spot where their difficulties lie. For evaluations to be faced and experienced as such, a great effort is made to help students understand their learning process and their need to adopt an attitude of commitment with their knowledge.

IMPLICATIONS “If we want our children to apprehend the variety of human experience and learn how they can contribute to it, we must give them -- and their teachers -- the opportunity to do so” -Ricardo Semler- Ricardo Semler’s ideas are based on educating in the form of making the learners active versus being passive participants. Educators have discussed the importance of hands-on learning and how it impacts on providing a holistic education that creates a life-long learner. The process of education is not about supplying students with lumps of information to be regurgitated on demand. It is about enabling students to learn how to learn. It is also about giving them opportunities to hear what others have learnt (knowledge) and to then discuss, argue, and reflect on this knowledge to gain a greater understanding of its truth for them and of how this knowledge will be of use to them. Challenges traditional business and education structures

COMMUNITY ORIENTATION TO BUSINESS VERSE PREDOMINANT CAPITALIST MODEL A community orientation to business can be seen as the more successful approach to a business succeeding as its main focus is drawing people in through realisation of their experiences in live. Being people-oriented can also help businesses become more profitable. Companies focused on their employees can be up to 30% more profitable. Definitions Manage: to be in charge of, administer, to dominate or influence, to exercise control or domination over. Leadership: to conduct by holding and guiding, to conduct or bring, to guide in direction, course, action, opinion, etc., to go before or with to show the way. The definitions above show a distinct difference between managing and leading. Of course, a leader has to make sure that tasks are being accomplished. However, they should be focused on how to motivate the people they are leading to accomplish those tasks. They should focus on how to make people better at what they do so that everyone benefits, instead of focusing on checking tasks off a list. Thus, showing that being community orientated makes a workplace more successful than one sole focused on making profits through traditional work environment.

THE MESSAGE Ricardo Semler has a strong message that influences many individuals around the world. He states: It is important to take a realistic look at what works best, what's possible, and what makes sense in today’s world, due to the advancement of technology, and the rapid change in life. He proposes that instead of technology making life easier it has stolen our free time and destroyed the traditional nine-five workday.

HOW TO RUN A COMPANY, SCHOOL AND LIFE WITH NO RULES Ricardo Semler talks about how we can run a company, a school and our life with no rules and gain wisdom from it. His main idea is to critically observe how we do things and the changes in our society.

RICARDO SEMLER’S INTERVIEW The link provided shows Ricardo Semler’s interview on the ABC Channel which discusses his approach to leadership in business, education and life and highlights how taking different approaches can change an individuals view on the social issue of a community orientation to business that conflicts with the predominant capitalist model.

RESOURCES The following is an excellent resource for educators to read further about Ricardo Semler and compare the community oriented ways of work and education with the predominant capitalist model. Journal Article: Ricardo Semler: Creating Organizational Change Through Employee Empowered Leadership