In the end, Ricardo combined a successful preemptive and reactive mode of changing the company. After many years of painful growth and shrinkage, trying new approaches and shedding them for others, the end result was a company that is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, utterly unique. Semco's standard policy is no policy. Twelve layers of bureaucracy went to three, while profit sharing became democratic. Profits shared are negotiated with workers, who then decide how to split the money.
Employees work in clusters or teams, and can paint their area how they see fit.
Some look like the bad dreams of an interior decorator suffering from food poisoning. Unions work with management and employees come in when they want to. A task force was set up to mediate schedule problems, but it hasn't met since workers cleared the schedules themselves. Automation was okay - if you want it, you do it. Before people are hired for or promoted to leadership positions, they are interviewed and approved by everyone who must work for them.