Theory R

Rethinking How Organizations and People Work

Levels of employee engagement remain low and customer satisfaction is flatlining. This means that organizations are letting employees and customers down every day. Theory R offers a practical and powerful way forward to rethink and reinvent organizations so they are fit for the future.

The objective of Theory R is to enable organizations to move toward a state of self-organization with autonomous individuals and lifelong users in an infinite loop of connection and collaboration to fuel constant learning, change, refinement, and performance.

And it works. Theory R brings together decades of experience in testing and shaping these ideas at the Chinese company Haier, as it makes the journey from near bankruptcy to a greatly successful global corporation. Along the way, an international community of progressive companies has been forged whose experience and inspiration informs Theory R.

The concept of Theory R affirms human value and dignity, and emphasizes the autonomous individual. Theory R embraces self-organizing ecosystems to move away from bureaucracy and hierarchy. It builds clusters of autonomous individuals working collectively and collaboratively for the greater good.

Theory R authors Zhang Ruimin, the former CEO and longtime leader of Haier, and Thinkers50 cofounder Stuart Crainer, offer a unique collaboration of ideas and practice. Theory R provides an alternative blueprint for what an organization can do—and for what people can achieve in organizations.