Why The Future Of Work Means Removing Walls
Last week, I found myself climbing the Great Wall in China with a group of fantastic people from progressive workplaces around the world.
Visiting the Wall was the cherry on top of a few days of deep diving into the ZeroDX conference.
The ZeroDX conference is organized annually by Haier, Thinkers50, and Gary Hamel & Michele Zanini’s MLab to celebrate the world’s most pioneering companies.
It’s about celebrating companies that organize with:
- Zero distance (to customers, employees, communities), and,
- Zero boundaries (to suppliers, outside partners, competitors).
Zero boundaries
When climbing the Great Wall, I kept thinking about the concept of zero boundaries.
Then the irony struck me.
Organizing with zero boundaries means dissolving traditional organizational walls.
These are walls between teams (hierarchy), functions (silos), and even the company and the outside world (borders).
The Great Wall was the exact opposite: it was designed to keep others out.
And that stood in sharp contrast to everything we had been exploring during the conference.
Two survival approaches
Both approaches are about survival, but from completely different directions.
The Great Wall represents the ancient model: survival by defense, by building walls, a strategy many bureaucratic companies still follow.
Haier and the other pioneering companies at ZeroDX represent the modern model: survival through growth by openness, by removing walls.
Here are three points that stood out to me.
1. Boundaries vs. Zero Boundaries
The Great Wall was about building boundaries (physical, cultural, and political) to protect what was inside from what was outside.
Haier, on the other hand, has spent years removing boundaries between employees and customers.
Haier believes that only by doing so can value creation be driven directly by user needs.
Haier’s RenDanHeYi model achieves this by breaking down the organization into small microenterprises (autonomous teams) that operate like startups and are measured by the value they create for users.
This network-of-teams lets front-line units respond to user signals without bureaucracy.
We saw this in practice when we visited one of Haier’s factories. They shared the story of the “Lazybones” washing machine.
Earlier this year, a user posted an idea on Haier’s Douyin (Tiktok China) channel: a “lazy” washer that could wash outerwear, underwear, and socks at the same time. The user even sketched a concept.
A Haier sales microenterprise spotted the suggestion and teamed up with manufacturing microenterprises to design it. They even asked the user to act as spokesperson for the product.
Through rapid concepting, prototyping, and direct collaboration with customers, Haier developed the new triple-drum washer within several days.
Instead of producing the washing machine right away, they first tested the market by putting it up for presale on JD.com shortly after the user’s suggestion.
Demand was confirmed immediately, so they started producing the product and many units have since been sold.
The “Lazybones” case is a textbook example of Haier’s zero-distance model: user input triggering product development and market launch directly.
2. Ecosystem Thinking
The Great Wall wasn’t just a wall. It was part of a system of watchtowers, garrisons, signaling networks, and supply chains. In its time, it functioned as an ecosystem for national security.
Haier, by contrast, focuses on building ecosystems across companies, customers, and even industries.
Instead of keeping threats out, Haier builds networks that connect people, allowing information and value to flow freely.
The ZeroDX event itself was a great example of ecosystem thinking. It gathered people from pioneering workplaces across the globe to share ideas about progressive management.
A significant number came from our Rebel Cell network. To give you a sense of the diversity, I met with representatives from:
- Belgium Rebel Cell: Butterfly&CO
- Spanish Rebel Cell: Full Circle, NER Group (Lancor & Inforyde)
- German Rebel Cell: Bayer, Bold2Move
- Italian Rebel Cell: VAR Group, Kopernicana
- Swiss Rebel Cell: Dectris
- Polish Rebel Cell: Univio
- Japanese Rebel Cell: Net Protections, R3s
- Global Rebel Cell: HR-ON, SINA, Haier (GE Appliances)
Rebel Cell companies mingled, built relationships, and shared knowledge with representatives from other pioneering organizations (e.g. Teal Unicorn, Golden Communication, PCS, AIT, ASA Group, Gummy Industries, foryouandyourcustomers, Epoch, ZeroG, Kitamoku, Fajar Benua, Arsenalia, Outcome) not yet part of our Rebel Cell network.
This is ecosystem thinking in action: connecting people across pioneering companies to share new ways of working and collectively make work more fun around the globe.
Interested in joining our Rebel Cell network and our annual Rebel Cell Summit in Barcelona (November 20, 21)? More info here.
3. The human role
The Great Wall was built by millions of laborers over centuries, often under brutal conditions. Many died and, according to legend, their bodies became part of the Wall itself.
Traditional organizations still often treat people like cogs. Haier flips this. Everyone is seen as a creator, not just an executor.
Sure, Haier’s model also depends on people, but instead of mass labor, it taps into entrepreneurial energy. Everyone acts like an owner, with decision-making power, especially in relation to customers.
This was central in Zhang Ruimin’s lectio magistralis and his on-stage dialogue with the brilliant, always humble Bill Fischer.
For Zhang Ruimin, the human role in business is not obedience but entrepreneurship of one’s own potential-what he calls “maximizing human value.”
He believes everyone has entrepreneurial potential, but bureaucracy suppresses it.
Haier’s model unleashes it by letting motivated people choose their own projects and share risks and rewards.
Zhang Ruimin emphasized respecting the dignity of individuals. For him, dignity means not reducing people to “resources” but recognizing them as ends in themselves.
Dignity comes from the ability to contribute meaningfully and be recognized for it.
That’s why Haier’s model pushes responsibility and credit down to the individual, rather than concentrating it at the top.
It’s about the freedom to create, the responsibility to deliver, and the recognition of one’s value.
Turning insights into practice
Interestingly, all these ideas tied back to my Great Wall visit.
The wall was built by millions of anonymous, expendable workers, often at the cost of their lives, with little recognition of their dignity.
The zero boundaries philosophy is the opposite. It is about building an organization where no one is expendable, and every contribution matters.
These are exactly the topics we cover in our Masterclass: Progressive Organizational Design.
On Tuesday, we kicked off the Fall cohort. Once again, every spot was filled. For the next six weeks, we’ll dive into this learning journey together.
If you missed the Fall round, don’t worry. The Winter 2026 cohort is coming up.
If you’re ready to explore how to dissolve walls, rethink structures, and design organizations where people thrive, this one’s for you.
