Bayer's Bold Bet: How a 160-Year-Old Giant is Liberating 100,000 People

Let's be honest - Bayer didn't wake up one morning and decide to become progressive just for fun. They were facing serious problems: litigation issues, performance challenges, and a bureaucracy that would make Franz Kafka proud.

When new CEO Bill Anderson arrived in mid-2023, he didn't just want to reorganize - he wanted to reimagine the entire operating model. Some might call it visionary. Others might call it desperate.

The truth probably includes a bit of both.

Introducing: Dynamic Shared Ownership

The 160-year-old life sciences giant is attempting something that makes most CEOs break out in cold sweats: transforming their 100,000-person company from a traditional hierarchy into a network of self-managing teams.

They call it Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO).

To learn more about Bayer's Dynamic Shared Ownership, we organized a LinkedIn Live session. It led to an inspiring, open, and insightful conversation with Michael Lurie (Bayer's chief catalyst), Lars Bruening (Bayer's Pharma division transformation leader), and Timm Urschinger (EY).

Next week, we'll share the recording. Want to access it too? Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter.

Now, let's dive in...

Why Dynamic Shared Ownership?

This isn't your typical corporate restructuring where consultants shuffle boxes around an org chart and everyone pretends things will be different. Or, as Michael Lurie put it, "This is not a fanciful theoretical exercise."

Bayer is rebuilding the whole damn ship—while it's sailing.

The goal? Create value across three dimensions:

• For customers: World-leading innovation in products and services
• For employees: Growth, meaning, and entrepreneurship
• For investors: Superior financial performance

But here's what makes this interesting: instead of another top-down reorganization, Bayer is betting on something different—giving power to the people actually doing the work.

Let's dissect what this actually means.

What is Dynamic Shared Ownership?

Dynamic Shared Ownership consists of five fundamental shifts in how the organization operates. And when I say fundamental, I mean fundamental. This isn't about moving a few decision rights down the hierarchy.

It's about blowing up the hierarchy altogether. Here are five of DSO's main components:

1. From shareholder value to mission & outcomes

Remember when companies existed for more than just quarterly earnings? Bayer does. They're ditching the obsession with KPIs and tasks for something bigger: a meaningful mission ("Health for all, Hunger for None") backed by concrete outcomes.

Here's what this looks like in practice: One oncology team was launching a life-saving drug. Instead of going through endless approval layers, they asked a simple question: "What actually helps get this drug to patients faster?" They cut 800(!) documents that served only internal purposes. The result? Record time-to-market.

This isn't just feel-good fluff—it's about ruthlessly focusing on what creates real value.

2. From hierarchy to a network of autonomous teams

Forget everything you know about organization charts. Bayer is replacing their rigid reporting lines with thousands autonomous, cross-functional teams working in an open network. No more "sorry, I need my boss's approval." No more "that's not my department."

Teams connect directly with other teams to get work done. When one manufacturing team hit a major setback with FDA approval, they didn't escalate up the chain—they collaborated horizontally across teams and hit their original timeline. That's what happens when you create the environment for people to solve their own problems.

3. From functions to value creation

Most companies organize around functions: marketing does marketing, R&D does R&D, and god help you if you need them to work together. Bayer is flipping the script with four types of teams laser-focused on value creation:

• Customer teams: Deep in the trenches with farmers, patients, and consumers
• Product teams: Developing solutions that actually solve problems
• Technical teams: Building killer capabilities in R&D, supply chain, and commercial
• Enabling teams: Providing resources and support where needed

The magic happens in how these teams flow together. Take their Italian team that spotted patients struggling with multiple vials for injections. Instead of waiting years for a new vial design, they 3D-printed a €6 holder that solved the problem immediately.

That's what happens when you organize around value instead of bureaucracy.

4. From annual planning to rapid cycles

Annual planning is dead. It's a relic from a time when we thought we could predict the future. Bayer is moving to 90-day cycles where teams set clear outcomes, test solutions, learn fast, and adapt.

Even their US commercial teams have reinvented how they work. They now have what they call a "brand marketplace" where people allocate themselves to priorities every 90 days based on where they can add the most value. No more being stuck in rigid roles—resources flow to impact.

5. From reactive to creative mindset

This might be the biggest shift of all. Changing structures and processes is one thing, ensuring people to truly thrive requires a totally different mindset. Bayer is challenging five deeply ingrained mindsets:

• From preservation to possibility
• From authority to partnership
• From scarcity to abundance
• From certainty to discovery
• From conformity to self-authorship

This isn't just corporate speak. It's about fundamentally changing how people show up at work. As one team member put it: "Since we work this way, the Sunday evening blues are gone."

6. From traditional management to thriving leadership

Self-management isn't about eliminating leadership—it's about reimagining it. Bayer is transforming leaders from commanders into enablers, with four distinct roles that support rather than control:

• Visionaries: Engage with teams to shape meaningful missions. No more handing down objectives from on high—leaders work with teams to craft purposes that matter.
• Architects: Help teams reimagine how they create value. Instead of dictating processes, leaders help teams design better ways to serve customers.
• Catalysts: Foster empowerment and teamwork across the network. Rather than managing through hierarchy, leaders break down silos and enable collaboration.
• Coaches: Support teams in working through rapid cycles. Instead of annual reviews, leaders help teams learn fast and evolve continuously.

It's a profound shift from "I tell you what to do" to "How can I help you succeed?"

As Lars, who leads the Pharma division's transformation, explains: 'The task of leadership is to arrange for it, make it happen, and in the evening go home and be proud that you weren't needed any further than that. It's a little different from saying, "hey, I told them what to do, they've done it, we have achieved it" towards, "well, I'm so proud of what the team was able to do and I know I helped here and there by making it happen."'

The reality check

Let's be clear: what Bayer is doing is hard. Really hard. Bayer estimates about a third of employees are excited and leaning in, a third are hesitant, and a third are waiting to see what happens. That's not uncommon from what we've seen in other radical transformations towards self-management.

And yes, there's a cost-cutting element—they're targeting €2 billion in savings. The company admits they've been overstaffed in management and administrative roles. But unlike most corporate "transformations" that are just fancy words for layoffs, DSO is primarily about unleashing innovation and growth.

The early results are promising. Teams are spending 30% more time with customers. They're cutting unnecessary bureaucracy. They're innovating faster. They're making decisions closer to the customer.

This is a bold experiment that could reshape how large corporations operate. If Bayer pulls this off, they won't just have transformed themselves—theycan become a role model for the future of work.

Time will tell if they succeed. But one thing's for sure: in a world where most corporate transformations are just PowerPoint deep, Bayer is actually trying to change the game.

And that alone is worth paying attention to.

Join the revolution

While Bayer rewrites corporate history, hundreds of other pioneers are transforming their organizations too. If you're done with outdated hierarchies and ready to build something better, here's how we can help:

• Learn how to design and structure a self-managing organization in our 6-week Masterclass
• Build the mindsets that make self-management thrive in our Bootcamp
• Connect with pioneering organizations in our global network of Rebel Cells

No consulting fluff. No corporate buzzwords. Just practical tools and real support from people who've been there.