“So anyone picking up this book may first ask, what is Semco?

“I can’t tell you. If you ask me to describe it in conventional business terms, I’d have to admit I have no idea what business Semco is in. For the last 20 years, I have resisted defining Semco for a simple reason: Once you say what business you’re in, you create boundaries for your employees, you restrict their thinking and give them a reason to ignore new opportunities. ‘We’re not in that business,’ they’ll say.

“Instead of dictating Semco’s identity, I let our employees shape it with their individual efforts, interests, and initiatives.”

—Ricardo Semler, The Seven-Day Weekend:
A Better Way to Work in the 21st Century