A few weeks ago, we published the article “The 7 myths about the Liberated Enterprise”. After listing and responding to the untruths we often come across about this “new” model, here’s our testimony: how is the Liberated Enterprise being lived at Fasterize?
The birth of Fasterize
“When I created Fasterize, I didn’t think it would be a liberated enterprise. At the time I didn’t know what it was. I’d just put down on paper the values I believed in and that I wanted to apply in concrete terms. I didn’t want to reproduce the pattern of a classic company, because I could see that I and the people around me were unhappy in that system. When I came across the concept of the liberated enterprise, everything just lit up.” Stéphane Rios, founder of Fasterize.
A single common goal
We started by dismantling local objectives. Although they are supposed to contribute to a global objective, there were so many examples of local objectives drifting away from their global meaning, or no longer taking people into account, that we no longer wanted this model. Who has never been refused or slowed down to obtain resources from another department, the latter judging the request solely according to its local objectives?
The raison d’être of our Free Enterprise is “a laboratory for learning in good spirits”. Being profitable is just a means to an end, not an end goal.
How does the Liberated Enterprise translate into everyday life?
It translates into many everyday details that would be difficult to list exhaustively. Nevertheless, we have some essential points of reference:
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- Transparency: everyone has the same level of information (or can access any information concerning Fasterize: the state of the bank account, the list of income, expenses (salaries among others), contracts, …). Everyone has the power to make any decision, and if they win support, they can steer the evolution of Fasterize.
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- Freedom to organize your work : everyone organizes their work as they see fit. If we need to free up a few hours, we can organize our days/weeks as we see fit. And we can work remotely whenever we want. We don’t have to stay at work to look good.
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- Meetings dedicated to the vision and improvement of the company: we organize regular retrospectives to take stock: what could be improved? What’s working well and what do we want to keep? What could be improved?
Everyone takes part and can express their views on the subject that’s closest to their hearts, even if they’re not the experts on the subject.
How many times have our developers suggested different sales and marketing approaches? And vice versa.
- Meetings dedicated to the vision and improvement of the company: we organize regular retrospectives to take stock: what could be improved? What’s working well and what do we want to keep? What could be improved?
- Taking the initiative : the commitment engendered by the Liberated Enterprise leads to initiative-taking at all levels. It has already happened, for example, that part of the team has chosen to lower its salary for a few months, while the company gets back on its feet.
Fasterize is still a young, small, liberated company, so it’s obviously easier to learn how to liberate the energies of a dozen people than of several thousand. And we don’t have to transform ourselves, we were born that way.
That’s why we’re already putting in place the basic processes that will enable us to adapt as we grow. There’s still a long way to go, but so far we’re happy with the path we’re on. And despite the difficulties a start-up faces in its early years, we’ve never thought of turning back to familiar and perhaps more reassuring ground 😉