Book excerpt: Can we manage without managers? Brought to life through the true stories of the real people who work there, Made Without Managers shares one company’s eye-opening experiences of a different way of working. Concerned that the constraints of conventional line-management structures might stand in the way of exceptional innovation and unrivalled customer service, the team at Mayden decided to break free from traditional approaches to people hierarchies and take a liberating, exciting and sometimes rocky journey into the extraordinary instead. What they created was a successful, dynamic, future-focused company that no longer relies on an outdated blueprint of traditional hierarchical management to get things done. What they learned can benefit any business that’s looking for more forward-thinking ways of working – ways that have the potential to unlock remarkable levels of empowerment, creativity, collaboration and productivity. This authentic and compelling account provides an unprecedented opportunity to go behind closed doors and discover the truth about the realities of working in and running a self-managing organisation, directly from the people that have lived and worked through it themselves. Learn about the pitfalls as well as the possibilities, experience the struggles alongside the successes and shine a light on what it really takes to achieve, prosper, survive and thrive in a business that’s made without managers.