Centigo: Pioneering Decentralized Business Wellness

This blog post is part of 50+ case studies of self-managing organizations we created for the 2024 inaugural ZeroDX awards. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:

• Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

• Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

• Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.

Introducing Centigo

Centigo, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a trailblazer in the management consulting industry. With additional offices in the UK and Germany and a team of around 250 people, the company specializes in business transformation, strategy, and digitalization. Centigo serves a wide range of sectors, including finance, retail, and energy.

Centigo's core mission is to drive Business Wellness, a concept designed to help organizations not just survive, but thrive in the face of market challenges. At the heart of Centigo's approach is its commitment to self-management, distributed leadership, and collective ambition, driven by the values of professionalism, entrepreneurship, and balance.

Organizational Structure

Centigo operates using a decentralized organizational structure. It employs semi-autonomous teams known as “Nodes,” which allow for a horizontal workplace structure. These nodes operate independently but remain part of an integrated company-wide network, fostering entrepreneurial thinking and allowing for rapid decision-making.

This structure eliminates traditional hierarchical barriers, promoting a flat organization where leadership is distributed across roles rather than being concentrated at the top. It enhances efficiency, innovation, and collaboration within teams and across the organization.

Customer Centricity and Internal Marketplace

Centigo's customer-centric model is supported by a sophisticated internal marketplace. Employees and teams match with projects that align with their interests, creating a highly adaptable and self-managing workforce. This internal marketplace fosters autonomy and entrepreneurship by allowing consultants to select projects based on personal interests and expertise, creating a dynamic work environment.

Each person is part of a Node and at least one Customer Team. Nodes are self-managing entities organized around an area of expertise (like, say, Retail, or Digital Transformation). They can also be organized geographically. Nodes consist of one or more self-selected teams. Employees choose the team they want to work in, based on their interests. Customer Teams bring together employees from various Nodes (and thus areas of expertise) to deliver on a specific client project. Partners at Centigo are responsible for sales and clients. Once they’ve secured a new project, they bring together a Customer Team with the required skills. This is where the marketplace element comes in. Negotiations take place to link supply to demand. Nodes and individual consultants offer their services and Partners offer their projects. Leaders in the nodes (coordinators) facilitate the process. They negotiate the scope of work and the accompanying compensation. It's important to note that consultants are never forced to accept a project.

Entrepreneurship and Rewards at Centigo

At Centigo, entrepreneurship is incentivized with both social and financial rewards. The company operates on a base salary model for all employees, with additional compensation available based on extra effort. Whether through project work or business development, employees can earn significant bonuses by adding value to the organization.

Centigo also embraces network-based leadership, which replaces traditional leadership roles with a more collaborative, peer-driven model. Employees connect with colleagues for development and support in formal and informal roles, ensuring continuous personal and professional growth.

In addition to financial rewards, Centigo’s culture places a strong emphasis on collaboration and passion. For example, employees contribute to organizing the company retreat —a full-blown, conference-holiday mix that takes a huge amount of effort to organize—simply out of their love for the organization. T

Conclusion

Centigo exemplifies how self-management and entrepreneurial culture can create a thriving, innovative organization. By adopting a decentralized model and empowering employees at all levels, Centigo is an example of how progressive, self-managing companies can succeed in the modern business world.