Who they are
Co-founder and former CEO of AES Corporation, one of the largest independent power producers in the world, and author of Joy at Work. Bakke is famous among operators for running AES on radical decentralization — frontline employees made multi-million-dollar decisions without committee approval. His thesis: joy and responsibility are the same thing, and you destroy both by centralizing decisions. A reference point for founders designing small, autonomous teams.
Core Ideas
- Advice process — anyone can make any decision after seeking advice from affected parties
- Joy at work — purpose and autonomy are the work, not perks
- Radical decentralization — push authority to the edge, always
Related
- Ricardo Semler — another radical-decentralization operator
- AES Corporation — the 40,000-person lab for his ideas