BioInspired! So What? Now What!

Imagine hunting like a wolf pack at work instead of taking orders and handouts from your boss like a lap dog. What if you were responsible for your own profits every month, pocketing 20% of them on top of your salary? What if you could choose your managers, your workspace, your equipment, materials, customers, colleagues and hours?

One radical Dorset company, Matt Black Systems, has done precisely that by scrapping traditional leadership and hierarchies. The family firm was failing: in terms of the Boston matrix, it was transitioning from the ‘cash cow’ to ‘dog’ phase, burning through capital to survive. As a result of a radical transformation of the business, productivity increased by 300% and profit margins by 10% while pay increased by 100%. Customer perception went from poor to outstanding with product returns at less than 1% and “on time/in full” delivery exceeding 96%.