One of the things that is very silly - and I hear from educators all the time - is that schools essentially teach kids to learn. They don't need school for that. Learning is what they do best.

People are responsible adults at home. Why do we suddenly transform them into adolescents with no freedom when they reach the workplace?

In life, we do not give employees enough leeway. If you look around Semco's office, there are plenty of empty desks. The question is - where are these people? I do not have the slightest idea, but I am not interested.

The purpose of work is to make the worker - whether a working stiff or a CEO - feel good about life.

I'm learning the process of changing things. I'm not really sure where this is going to take me. But I know what I want before my career is over: I want people to remember me as someone other than a guy who just tackled people.

My original business model - I actually wrote this down - was 'interesting work for interesting people.'

Every company, every boardroom in which I sit, has a plan, and they have objectives, goals, and a process. And to make it work, the pressure and incentive have to come from the top.

I treat everyone how I would like to be treated, and I try to treat this industry and this job with the respect it deserves.