How One Annoying IT Crisis Sparked a Company-Wide Revolution

That tension kicked off one of the most unexpected organizational overhauls we’ve seen.

A company with 180 employees. A high-tech lab background. And a whole lot of hierarchy.

Until one rebel cracked it open.

Let’s rewind

Recently, Joost and I were visiting the pioneering organizations of the Swiss Rebel Cell.

Among them?

A company that completely rethought how it operates: Dectris. Known for their world-class detector tech, they also happen to be rewriting the rules of how companies run.

And it all started with one employee deciding enough was enough.

The Dectris playbook for destroying traditional management

1. From conflict to collaboration

It started with a broken system—literally.

When the company’s IT systems began falling apart, Ivo (a production planner) and Marcus (then a board member) were forced to collaborate. The problem? They couldn’t stand each other.

But instead of defaulting to blame, Marcus said something unexpected:

“We need to talk on eye level. What can we do?”

That simple invitation cracked open the door to something bigger.

Ivo dove into self-management research. He read books, enrolled in courses, and ran small experiments back at Dectris: emotional retrospectives, role clarity, and shared decision-making.

From day three, things shifted. People felt different. Better. More real.

2. Leadership hits reset

Meanwhile, leadership was having its own crisis.

Matthias, head of development turned CEO, was watching projects stall and development cycles drag. The org chart wasn’t helping. So he scrapped departments and restructured everything into three value streams: customer-to-customer, market-to-market, and internal services. No more siloed teams. No more command-and-control.

Instead, Dectris created self-managing teams, supported by Delegators and a cross-functional Purpose Team. These groups aligned strategy and support—without stepping in to control.

As Matthias put it, “Before, I might step into a team and decide something. Now, I wouldn’t do that.”

This kind of shift—from top-down control to distributed alignment—is something we explore often in our Masterclass on Self-Management. Because real transformation doesn’t just come from the front of the room—it’s built in the everyday ways teams work.

3. The salary bombshell

No more random raises. No more manager mood swings. Dectris replaced traditional reviews with a peer-led system designed to bring more fairness and clarity.

Here’s how it works:

• You assess yourself across five dimensions: leadership, subject-matter expertise, ownership, collaboration, and communication.
• You invite a peer to join a review circle with a Delegator and a Purpose Team member.
• Together, you agree on your mastery level—which links directly to a salary band based on Swiss benchmarks.

No one talks money in the meeting. Just capabilities. Just growth.

And while the exact salary numbers aren’t fully transparent across the company yet, going through the process makes it easier to understand how salaries are set.

Peers begin to connect the dots.

They call it “gradual transparency.” Not a big bang, but a clear shift toward openness.

4. The emotional glue

And the emotional glue? That came too.

Dectris didn’t stop at systems. They made sure the human side was covered.

Each team got a Collaboration Facilitator—a peer chosen to support team health. They lead retrospectives, host emotional check-ins, organize bonding events, and flag tensions before they escalate.

Then there are Sponsors—experienced employees who helped teams during the transition to self-management. They guided teams in defining roles, introduced decision-making tools like Sociocracy 3.0, and coached people through feedback practices and conflict.

These roles weren’t about adding more process. They were about creating safety, clarity, and support.

Structure for emotional safety. A way to hold the culture together as everything else changed.

What’s next for Dectris?

Dectris isn’t chasing the next flashy framework. They’re focused on living what they’ve already built.

The future?

It’s about stability, refinement, and deepening the practice.

They’re investing in training for conflict resolution, sharpening decision-making skills, and strengthening mentorship across the company.

As Matthias put it:

“We should really start to live in this system and get everything out of it.”

The wild part? Their transformation didn’t begin with a blueprint.

It began with a broken database.
And a willingness to do things differently.

Now they’re proving: radical change doesn’t require chaos. Just courage.

Want to explore how to build an operating system like this in your company?

These are the kinds of frameworks we dig into in our Masterclass on Progressive Organizational Design.

Real tools. Real stories. Real change.

Check out the upcoming cohorts here.