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No CEO: The Swedish Company Where Nobody Is In Charge (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the taking-a-different-approach dept.

Katie Hope, reporting for BBC: Three years ago, Swedish software consultancy Crisp decided that the answer was no. The firm, which has about 40 staff, had already trialled various organisational structures, including the more common practice of having a single leader running the company. Crisp then tried changing its chief executive annually, based on a staff vote, but eventually decided collectively that no boss was needed. Yassal Sundman, a developer at the firm, explains: "We said, 'what if we had nobody as our next CEO -- what would that look like?' And then we went through an exercise and listed down the things that the CEO does." The staff decided that many of the chief executive's responsibilities overlapped with those of the board, while other roles could be shared among other employees. "When we looked at it we had nothing left in the CEO column, and we said, 'all right, why don't we try it out?'" says Ms Sundman.

7 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Yes, I see by The-Ixian · · Score: 5, Funny

    I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    1. Re:Yes, I see by burtosis · · Score: 5, Funny

      I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

      (interrupting) Listen, strange people lyin' in comfy chairs distributin' shares is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcicial bureaucratic ceremony!

  2. Long story short by guruevi · · Score: 5, Funny

    They looked at their C-level executives and said: hey, they don't do anything anyway, why bother.

    It's a sentiment many of us have had for a long time.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  3. Bye Sweden! by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 4, Funny

    US CEOs will nuke Sweden to stop this dangerous idea from spreading around the world!

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  4. America beat you to it Sweden by Comboman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since January, the USA is an entire country where no one is in charge.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
  5. as an american im shocked. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    How will you ever formulate your trust synergies? without your CEO you cant reactively anticipate the growth strategy of your win-win situations and kaizan the goal strategy matrix. Christ forbid you go for longer than a few weeks without a CEO's absolutely critical newsletters and quarterly associate pow-wows to help strengthen and inspire. Why it gives me chills to think how much actual work your corporation accomplishes on a daily basis without a CEO. You might have "happy customers" and "completed projects" but do you have productivity metrics to suggest your lean six-sigma axis is tilting toward revenue pivots?

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  6. Re:Swedish people by Mattatron · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh really? Well, maybe YOU didn't not try it, why don't you go not do that and tell us how it didn't go?