The future of work isn't theoretical. These organizations are already living it.
Netflix: Context Over Control
Netflix eliminated project managers and replaced them with "context." Instead of coordinating through meetings and status reports, they invested heavily in transparent information systems.
Key Practices
- Strategy documents published internally before external announcement
- All teams have access to real-time metrics and dashboards
- Decisions documented in memos, not made in meetings
- Teams trusted to make trade-offs within clear constraints
The result: Engineers spend time engineering. Product people spend time on product strategy. No one spends time coordinating.
Spotify: Autonomous Squads
Spotify organized around autonomous "squads"—small teams with end-to-end ownership. No project managers. No approval chains. Squads decide what to build, how to build it, and when to ship.
Coordination happens through transparent data, shared principles, and platform teams that provide common infrastructure.
Key Practices
- Squads own complete features end-to-end
- Platform teams provide infrastructure as a service
- Coordination through data transparency, not meetings
- Decisions pushed to the squad level
Haier: Microenterprises
Haier, the Chinese appliance giant, dismantled its entire hierarchy and reorganized into 4,000+ "microenterprises"—small autonomous units that operate like startups.
There are no traditional managers. Each microenterprise has a leader, but they can't command. They can only coordinate through market-like mechanisms.
Key Practices
- Units coordinate through internal markets, not hierarchies
- Revenue and profit visible in real-time
- Leaders elected by team members
- Compensation tied to unit performance
GitHub: Asynchronous by Default
GitHub operates asynchronously. Most coordination happens through written communication, not meetings. Decisions are documented in issues and pull requests.
This isn't just remote work culture—it's a fundamental shift in how coordination happens. AI can parse written context. It can't attend meetings.
Key Practices
- Written proposals over verbal presentations
- Decisions documented in GitHub issues
- Meetings only when synchronous discussion adds value
- Default to transparency unless privacy is required
What They Have in Common
These organizations look different on the surface, but they share core principles:
1. Transparent Information
All relevant information is visible to everyone who needs it. You don't need to ask for status—you can see it.
2. Clear Constraints
Teams operate autonomously within well-defined constraints. You don't need approval for every decision—only for decisions outside your authority.
3. Platform Infrastructure
Coordination is enabled by shared platforms and tooling. You don't need to negotiate for resources—you access them through self-service.
4. Trust by Default
The default assumption is that teams will make good decisions. Oversight is the exception, not the rule.
The Economics Explain It
These organizations didn't reorganize because of ideology. They reorganized because the economics of coordination changed.
When information is cheap and accessible, hierarchical coordination becomes a bottleneck. When software can sense and route work, human coordination becomes overhead.
These organizations saw it first. But the same economics apply everywhere.