Theory R

Rethinking How Organizations and People Work

by Zhang Ruimin and Stuart Crainer

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.