An Exercise in Liberation

Abstract

The chapter will be based on the experiences of a Colombian engineering company from 2003 through to 2013. The company was a local engineering office of an international oil services company based in Scotland but also, with substantial offices in USA and around the world. In 2003 the company was making a loss and in 2004 had to reduce down to 60 people. It had a traditional ‘command and control' approach to management. Over a period of 7 years, they developed a unique culture/working model which focused on allowing employees to contribute and participate in the running of the company and removed all bureaucratic barriers that restricted its employees from working effectively. The company grew to over 1,200 in 2013. The chapter proposes to explain how removing organization charts, eliminating policies and procedures, eliminating working hours, allowing employees to recruit new staff, manage their own holidays, and set their own salaries produced a purpose-driven and fully motivated and successful company.