Learn what they don’t teach in business school. Follow @dh for real-world strategies, lessons, and stories that drive success.

They basically proved that maybe the problem isn't . "How do we manage at scale?". But. "Why are we managing at all?". Sometimes the best org chart is no org chart.

The playbook breakdown:. - Break big into small (4,000+ micro-units).- Give each unit real autonomy + accountability.- Create internal markets for services.- Eliminate layers between decision and action.- Pay people like entrepreneurs, not employees.

And the numbers speak for themselves. A decade after the model's introduction in 2005, Haier's profits had already multiplied twelvefold. showing a compound annual growth rate of 28%.

What's crazy is how this changes everything. Where the traditionalists think about how they can optimize the org chart. Haier flips it, thinking. "What if we didn't need an org chart?". Suddenly, the control fizzles into enablement.

Instead of extracting efficiency from existing corporate structures. They just created ENERGY native to each team. Bureaucracy dissolves when people actually care about outcomes. That's the shift. From managing people to unleashing them.

The anti-bureaucracy symmetary is beautiful:. - No approval processes for spending under $10K.- No committees for hiring decisions.- No quarterly reviews or annual planning cycles. Just: "Does this make sense for your customers? Cool, do it."

But here's where it gets really interesting. They created internal "markets" for EVERYTHING. For legal help, the legal team had to compete with external law firms for your business. Everything is earn-your-keep.

The compensation model is genius too:. Instead of fixed salaries, everyone gets a base + profit sharing from their team's performance. If your design team kills it this quarter, everyone gets paid more. If logistics screw up, everyone feels it. Skin in the game, everywhere.

Here's my favorite part:. Teams can literally fire their own "leaders" if they're not adding value. Imagine telling your manager "hey, we voted, you're out" and the company being like "cool, sounds good.". The hierarchy just. disappeared.

The results are kinda nuts:. - Revenue per employee jumped 200%.- Decision-making speed increased 10x.- Innovation projects went from dozens to thousands.- Employee satisfaction scores through the roof. Turns out people work harder when they're. entrepreneurs?. Insane.

But wait, it gets weirder. Each team has to "compete" for internal customers. Like, if you're the marketing team, you have to convince the sales team to "buy" your services. If nobody wants what you're offering, your team gets dissolved. Internal market dynamics. Wild.

Here's what they did:. Broke the company into 4,000+ tiny units called "self-managed teams" or SMTs. Each unit = 10-15 people max.Each unit = their own P&L.Each unit = makes their own decisions. No bosses. No middle managers. No corporate overlords. Huh?

First, the context:. - Revenue is about $40B.- 80,000+ employees globally.- Makes fridges, washing machines, AC units.- Typical corporate bureaucracy nightmare. Then their CEO Zhang Ruimin basically said "screw it, let's blow this up" and restructured the entire thing.

Haier just OBLITERATED every MBA textbook with the most insane org structure ever created. They didn't just cut middle management - they ELIMINATED it entirely. Like, ZERO layers between CEO and front-line workers. This is absolutely nuts:🧵

Learn what they don’t teach in business school. Follow @dh for real-world strategies, lessons, and stories that drive success.

Anyway, that's my rabbit hole summary. Transsion basically proved you don't need the "best" product. You need the RIGHT product for YOUR market. Makes you wonder what other obvious opportunities are hiding in plain sight. .

The playbook breakdown:. - Pick one market and actually understand it.- Solve problems others call "edge cases".- Build infrastructure, not just products.- Don't compete on specs, compete on fit.- Own your space before expanding.

What's funny is how "obvious" it all sounds in hindsight:. - Make phones people actually want.- Fix them when they break.- Price them affordably.- Solve local problems locally. But somehow Apple/Samsung missed this for years?. Make it make sense.

In 2017, Transsion surpassed Samsung to become the top smartphone in Africa by unit sales. with 28% market share. And nearly doubled it in the next 6 years, reaching a massive 49% of the entire African smartphone market by 2023.