What Is a Utopian Company?

There's a kind of company I think about often these days.

It might sound utopian, but it isn't some vague dream.

The utopian company I imagine

has exactly three conditions.

Survival is guaranteed,

the work is interesting,

and there's a lot to learn.

If even one of these three is missing,

I think that company won't last long.

1. A company where survival is guaranteed

The survival I'm talking about

isn't about becoming a unicorn, explosive growth, or hitting it big.

• Paychecks aren't delayed

• Today's mistake doesn't lead to tomorrow's firing

• A state free of the fear that the company might collapse at any moment

This is the minimum condition.

In a state of anxiety, people

can't find their work interesting,

and can't make learning their own.

So survival isn't a perk,

it's a precondition.

2. A company where the work is interesting

Interesting

doesn't mean easy or stress-free.

If anything, it's the opposite.

• Work where you can think about why it was done this way

• Where the reasons behind a choice can be explained

• Where there are standards, so it makes sense

This kind of work is hard, but interesting.

Conversely,

• Work handed down without a reason

• A role that's just pushing buttons

• A structure where only results are demanded

no matter how good the perks are,

the work gets used up fast.

Interest comes not from freedom, but from room to think.

3. A company where there's a lot to learn

Learning

doesn't come from training programs or lectures.

Real learning is this:

• Coming to know in your bones why a certain choice was dangerous

• Having judgment criteria transfer to you naturally

• Being left with a sense you can put to use anywhere, even after you leave this company

In other words,

learning that remains not as the company's asset,

but as the individual's asset.

A company without this

may look like it's growing its people,

but it's really just consuming them.

For these three to be possible at the same time

These conditions don't arise on their own.

The CEO's attitude has to be the precondition.

• The CEO learns the most

• The CEO is wrong most often

• A structure where the CEO bears the final responsibility

If this breaks down,

survival becomes exploitation,

interest becomes burnout,

and learning becomes an empty slogan.

So the company I want to build

isn't a company that holds people captive,

but one that keeps people from breaking down

and makes them able to survive anywhere.

Ironically,

people don't leave this kind of company easily,

and even when they do, the relationship remains,

and over time, I believe, it becomes a network.

A utopian company

isn't a place where ideal people gather.

It's a company structurally designed

so that people don't get hurt.

I'm not yet in the middle of it,

but I'm at least certain I'm heading in that direction.

So today, again,

a little slowly,

a little conservatively,

I keep working while I learn.