Joost and Pim, known as The Corporate Rebels, are on a mission to make work more fun. They quit their frustrating, corporate jobs and set out to travel the world to visit the world’s most inspiring organizations. While checking off their Bucket List they share everything they learn.
Their blog is read in 100+ countries and they've been featured in NY Times, Forbes, HuffPost, Guardian, BBC. Listed as "Top 30 Emergent Management Thinkers" and nominated for Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award.
Sketch by MLVDW
“The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona. It was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. And the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
What the hell has the Sagrada Família to do with Corporate Rebels? Here’s a hint.
Finding progressive organizations with truly radical management practices is hard. There seem to be so few of them around.
To make matters worse, some with radically new approaches only survive briefly. Why do some poster boys of the future revert to traditional models?
We think it’s important to share the less-than-successful stories as well—because we can learn from troubles in paradise, just as we can from paradise itself.
As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them.
We share the most insightful ones. The ones that are vital content to fuel the global movement for better work. They inspired us and we hope they inspire you as well.
Here are our top 5 picks of this month. This should be your monthly workplace inspiration. Enjoy!More +
Ellen finished an internship at Corporate Rebels two months ago. We asked her to continue working with us. We offered her a job.
But there was a catch. In true Rebels style, we were not going to propose a salary. Nor were we going to negotiate about it. It was up to Ellen to set her own. Here’s a reconstruction of what took place.
Traditional organizations tend to distribute activities via job descriptions that are out-of-date the moment they are crafted. Moreover, this process ensures that most employees do not apply their full talents. What a waste!
Job descriptions not only limit talent, they also demotivate. As Dan Pink told us, the ability to use your strengths is highly motivating. Sadly, many organisations aren’t aware they are holding back a huge reservoir of untapped potential.
We have great news. The prestigious Thinkers50 have announced we’ve been nominated for a distinguished achievement award, also known as The Oscars of Management Thinking! Specifically, we are on the …
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Let’s keep it a secret. This seems to be the default option in traditional organisations. Access to valuable information is limited to a few leaders. These top dogs must then …
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From the very beginning, we knew Corporate Rebels needed to be more than a blog, more than a source of inspiration, and more than a collection of practices, case studies …
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We’re in a former industrial area, now home to a vibrant cultural site, recreational facilities and, oh yes, offices. In this office, all colors of the rainbow surround us – …
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This guest-post was written by Diego Rojas. See his bio below the article. How can we show appreciation for what our colleagues do? At Thinking With You we have 100 ‘Thinkitos’ …
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Over recent years we have travelled the world searching for progressive organizations, and inspiration on how to make work more fun. Sometimes, we find inspiration closer to home. Breman is …
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As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them. We share the …
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Most traditional organizations focus their performance and reward policies on attendance. They pay employees simply to show up. That doesn’t make sense. No wonder they worry why employees are not …
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An important feature of traditional organizations is centralized authority. This suggests decision-making competence rises with level in the hierarchy. This is obviously nonsense. ShareTweetShareEma…
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Is it true that if employees are engaged that they will perform better? Or is it true that if employees perform better they will be more engaged? Despite all the …
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Recently we launched our first Corporate Rebels spin-off, Revolt. They help organizations change the way they work. Their start Revolt has been impressive. Two new people have joined the team—which now …
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For many people, working long hours is business as usual. Some are even proud of it. They think it shows ambition and dedication. Wrong! In our view, it’s the opposite. …
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In January 2016 we founded Corporate Rebels. We had no business model—but we did have a clear mission—to make work more fun. Our short corporate lives had been frustrating. We …
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‘Let my people go surfing‘ is the title of Yvon Chouinard’s autobiography. Chouinard is the iconic founder of Patagonia. He reflects an outlook common amongst the 100+ progressive organizations we …
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Rules. Procedures. Protocols. Organizations are full of them. Managers love setting them. Employees are, literally, sickened by them. The overuse of rules to control behavior murders productivity, defies common sense, …
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As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them. We share the …
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“The bottom of the pyramid is…the biggest opportunity for innovation in business models.” When C.K. Prahalad wrote ‘Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid’ in 2004, his focus was on …
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Over the years we’ve have written about how progressive organizations organize into networks of teams. We’ve also written about how they radically distribute decision-making authority to these teams. With so much authority …
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“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change.” This is arguably Charles Darwin’s most famous misquotation. …
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The email detox experiment we are running generated a very positive response. So, here we share more on our experiments. The focus this time is on working rhythm and the tools we …
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Hell yes! More Rebel Events are coming. We’ve added more cool cities to the list. Check out the entire list in this blog post. ShareTweetShareEma…
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We wrote this article for THINK:ACT Magazine. You can find it here. In our search for the most pioneering workplaces in the world, we’ve come across some extraordinary organizations. And this …
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We have a huge problem in our businesses. Women are disappearing from the workplace. Over the years we have created a corporate world in which women fall behind early and …
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As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them. We share the …
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Email is a persistent disease plaguing contemporary workplaces. It’s the default way of communicating in companies around the globe. But it’s also draining productivity and engagement. On one count, a …
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We recently wrote a blog post about the betting exchange, Smarkets. London based, with 120 employees, they made self-management work in their fast-growing company. We followed up with three employees to learn …
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In a previous post we featured an old CIA manual on how to sabotage the workplace. It showed how to reduce organizational productivity. Some of these ideas are now clearly out-dated; but …
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There is a species too familiar for comfort—team leaders, supervisors, managers, vice-presidents and bosses who ‘direct’ their subordinates. This directive style is based on fear, control and status. These leaders …
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Our recent post, “The Way We Work Is Broken” revealed the engagement sinkhole, and the associated burnout rate. We highlighted the impotence of leaders in solving this problem. We highlighted …
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Regular visitors to our blog will notice a change at the top of the screen. The header, which used to include a picture of the whole team, is not there …
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A new gimmick has entered the management world. It’s an old (1944) CIA manual on how to sabotage an organization’s productivity. This secret pamphlet was called “The Simple Sabotage Field …
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This post is written by Lennard Toma. Check out his bio below the article. It was August 2018 on a Tuesday morning. The weather was cheerful. So were the colleagues …
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As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them. We share the …
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We have preached this mantra before: Companies should not focus on profit. They should focus on purpose. Now, after visiting 100+ progressive companies we have seen the evidence with our own eyes. Progressive organizations …
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This post is written by Nele van Hooste. Check out her bio below the article. We recently started working with self-governing teams. We call them circles. They operate as entrepreneurial mini-companies within …
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Almost three decades ago Peter Drucker wrote an article called ‘The New Productivity Challenge‘. In it he foresaw the biggest challenge for organizations in the 21st century—how to keep employee …
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A few days ago we launched ‘Revolt by Corporate Rebels‘ – a brand new company. Revolt supports companies who want to unleash employee engagement. With Revolt, we turn the inspiration we gained from the …
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We have an ambitious vision: a global workplace revolution to make work more fun. We want to end large-scale suffering and widespread disengagement. We want to replace dysfunctional structures in organizations. We …
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We’ve been working on exciting new stuff behind the scenes. In a few days we will reveal the news. Stay subscribed to our newsletter and be the first to know. Stay tuned. …
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At Corporate Rebels we like to talk about ‘building a movement—and ‘radical transparency’. Perhaps now is a good time to be radically transparent about our performance—and about the movement we …
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A big part of our job is to increase awareness: awareness of global workplace pioneers (through our Bucket List), and how they’re changing organizations for the better. To show where …
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As explorers of radically engaging workplaces, we try to read all notable articles published on the topic. We read them, we rank them and we share them. We share the …
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This post is written by Alison Robins. Check out her bio below the article. Despite the annual review occurring only once a year, its looming presence affects employees’ day-to-day mentality, …
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A few weeks ago we announced a new series of Rebel Events. These one-day events are a perfect way to share what we learn from the world’s most pioneering workplaces. …
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Many workplaces suffer from inertia, risk-avoidance, and an utter lack of entrepreneurship. Paralyzed employees are unable to experiment and innovate. A big research study of ours showed only 34% have …
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