Do companies need a strong leader to make it in today’s highly competitive environment? Many would say “yes, definitely”, but the employees of one Swedish software consultancy company would tell them otherwise. They don’t have a CEO. Nobody tells anyone what to do, instead all the 40 employees have meetings and decide together.
在今天这样竞争激烈的环境中，公司是否需要一个强有力的领导才能成功？许多人会说“是的，这是肯定的”，但是一家瑞典软件咨询公司的答案正相反。这家公司就没有首席执行官。没有人告诉任何人做什么，而是40个员工在开会时共同决策。
Crisp, the software consultancy firm has become world famous for not having a boss. Hoping to get its employees more involved, it moved on to changing its chief executive officer annually, but ultimately, the 40-strong staff decided there was actually no need for a single leader, so they scrapped the position altogether.
软件咨询公司Crisp因为没有领导而闻名世界。为了让员工更多地参与公司事务，该公司原来每年都会换首席执行官，但后来40名员工决定其实不需要单一的领导人，所以他们干脆就取消这个职位了。
Well, it turns out that not having a boss, and being involved in decision making has made Crisp’s 40 employees a lot more responsible and motivated. And even if someone does make a bad call at some point, it’s definitely not the end of the world.
结果发现，没有领导、集体参与决策让Crisp的40个员工变得更有责任心，更有动力。就算有人偶尔做了件蠢事，肯定也不会是世界末日。
According to the BBC, the unique Swedish company is apparently set up more like a family – nobody tells anyone what to do, but the unspoken understanding is that “you don’t mess up the house.”
据BBC报道，这家独一无二的瑞典公司的组织结构更像一个大家庭，没有人告诉任何人该做什么，大家达成的默契是“不能把家弄乱”。
Crisp does hold four-day meetings for the whole staff two or three times a year, when they decide on things that affect everyone, like changing their headquarters, but generally, company employees are encouraged to make their own decisions. They also have a company board, a legal requirement in Sweden, which acts as a last resort, in case something goes horribly wrong.
Crisp公司全体员工每年会开两到三次长达四天的会议，这种会议将做出一些会影响所有人的决策，比如总部搬迁，不过一般来说，公司鼓励员工自己做决定。按照瑞典的法律要求，他们还设有一个备用的公司董事会，以防出现重大失误。
So far, the “no CEO” experiment has gone surprisingly well. Henrik Kniberg, an organisational coach at Crisp, claims that not having to ask the boss to approve project decisions or budgets means that things happen a lot faster and the company can respond to clients quicker. Employees are also a lot happier, as revealed by the regular staff satisfaction surveys, where the average is a solid 4.1 out of 5.
到目前为止，这个“无CEO”试验进展情况出奇的好。Crisp公司的组织教练亨里克•克尼伯格称，不需要领导来批准项目或预算，事情进度要快得多，公司也能更迅速地回复客户。根据定期的员工满意度调查，员工的幸福水平也高得多，平均满意度是4.1分（满分是5分）。
However, Kniberg stresses that not having to ask the CEO’s permission about stuff doesn’t remove employees’ responsibility to consult with their colleagues and explain their decisions.
然而，克尼伯格强调说，不必征得首席执行官的同意并不意味着员工不必和同事商量并对自己的决定做出解释。
However, some CEOs believe that the idea only works in small startups, because it would be too chaotic in large organizations.
不过，也有些首席执行官认为这种理念只适合那些新兴的小公司，因为大机构群龙无首将会一团乱。