ORGANIZACJA TURKUSOWA - MODEL SKAZANY NA SUKCES, CZY SZALEŃSTWO? Marek Piechocki /LPP/

Listen, I think it's like this — essentially, each of us always started with some kind of employment, and the idea for one's own business venture can appear when we have some idea that we want to change something, that we want to challenge the current state of the economy in this or that area. I think in the vast majority of cases, every entrepreneur, even if they have an idea, starts their life working for someone, even just to learn something, to see what limitations exist, what market opportunities there are. It seems that in 90% of cases, we start by working for someone, and later we see the imperfections, we see that we could do it better in a proven area, and then we start our own business. Although there are cases where people start right after university, but then it may turn out that the cost of mistakes made is so high that it's worth being prudent. Most entrepreneurs claim exactly this — that it might be better to go work for someone, not to earn a living, but to see what mistakes are being made, what decisions are being taken, what the consequences of those decisions are. Someone once told us: if you want to be good managers, spend at least a year or two as an assistant to a good manager, carrying their briefcase. The younger generation seems reluctant to carry someone's briefcase, reluctant to learn — they want to be CEOs, directors, occupy high positions right away.

No, I think they are aware of their... it's like this — of course, everyone carries a marshal's baton in their backpack, everyone thinks about that. But I think they are aware — of course, we have different times, and these times are somewhat connected with changes in social awareness, with changes such that young people know more, that they can do more. This is also related to changes in how companies are managed. A few years ago we made a fairly significant change in our management style. We have various types of organizations — hierarchical, flat — organizational structures can be very different. One of the organizational forms is the so-called turquoise organization, where responsibility is delegated to quite low levels. Even though LPP employs about 2,500 people centrally and altogether more than 25,000 people, we are organized quite flatly. The majority of the central office consists of mini-teams of 6 to 10 people — these are like little companies that manage on their own. These teams have a very high level of decision-making authority — they decide what they buy, at what price, how they buy, what they sell, and so on. I think this gives young people the opportunity for self-realization. So this question of whether we'll work for someone or carry someone's briefcase — it depends on what opportunities for self-realization these enterprises offer. I look at it also in terms of the progress of skills — these young people get increasingly broader competencies. A young buyer who started as an assistant and has been working for about four years — suddenly it turns out they have a budget of 10 million dollars for purchases and they go to Asia to buy. They need to do it responsibly and thoughtfully, and then they are essentially already a decision-maker. This brings us back to what we said about someone wanting to be a CEO right away — I think it's more about young people wanting to decide things themselves, wanting to have influence on what happens. They expect the opportunity to influence things, not just execute orders, but to be decision-makers. I think a large part of our success as LPP is that responsibility is delegated to very low levels. A small team of 6 people knows a thousand times better than I do, than anyone from the outside. The question is trust — to manage this way, you need to trust people and have the ability to select the right people. We have the good fortune that people work with us for very long periods. We have a tradition every year of presenting watches to people who have worked with us for over 10 years. Right now we have about 1,000 people who have worked for over 10 years, and about 30 or 40 who have been with LPP for 25 years. But when we entered this system of delegating responsibility, there were fears among managers — should I really give this responsibility to these young people? Certain tensions arose. But we said: the more successes you have, the more autonomy you'll get. Starting from one product category, we expand it, so these young people gradually get a larger circle of responsibility. Of course, you can't immediately give an assistant 10 million dollars to go to Asia when they have no experience — it takes two or three years. But even this happens quite quickly with us. We evaluate work results quickly. We have reports practically every day showing how items sell, so people can see what sells more — green, not red.

Listen, you know what — I think you need to have that inner feeling that you want to change something, that inner restlessness that what's on the market today is not perfect, that you have an idea for how to change that imperfection. But on the other hand, it's a personal choice. We have people who tried to create their own businesses, unfortunately it didn't work out and they came back. But you can also realize yourself wonderfully in an organization like ours. People in logistics, in freight forwarding — they're doing remarkable things. We'll be building three distribution centers every year, and that's a big challenge — building one in Bucharest, or in Russia, or in Rzeszów. Managing IT teams with data science, where we process data and do things that practically very few companies in Europe do. It's always a question of choice — whether you want to, whether you see such an opportunity. Because there are many people who realize themselves with us — we give a large degree of autonomy. I can honestly say that people often thank me recently, saying 'I'm glad you gave me that level of autonomy, that you don't interfere.' I pose a problem to someone who manages 20 people and give them time to sort it out. The organization is flat. So whether it's worth starting your own business — you need to have an idea for it. I don't have an idea for any business other than clothing. For 20, 30 years doing the same thing, and it seems to be working out for us. I can say that I am a slave to my best managers, and they decide what they do. I depend on them. Their happiness and satisfaction is my biggest concern. If they're happy, they won't go start their own businesses. One business is logistics — building distribution centers, and right now we have problems with containers from China, so they're sending whole trains — a train with 1,000 containers. We can't send ships, so they invented trains. There are enormous opportunities for self-realization. I believe we must pay people very good money so they're satisfied and have peace at home — that's a certain kind of security. Thanks to not having other problems, they can fully devote themselves to developing their area. When you think about it, we need to send from our 10 distribution centers 10 million pieces of clothing in a week, or receive 500 containers — those are amazing challenges. And when they can't ship containers, Gosia starts figuring out how to buy a few trains. I'd call them more partners than employees because they co-create this business, shaping it for years in their areas based on their skills. Sebastian in logistics — generally, he spends a lot of my money playing with conveyor belts and trains, and it costs a fortune. But thanks to him, we actually ship goods to stores, and he does it better than anyone else.

You know what, I think it's worth it for sure. I think you need to seek satisfaction and the desire to somewhat compensate for the misfortunes that have befallen people who were excluded or hurt by fate. But thinking that you go there to gain professional competencies — rather not. You might learn something along the way, but the goal is something else. You shouldn't think about it through the lens of 'I'll go to a social initiative to learn management.' That shouldn't be the main goal. You can go to a company to gain competencies. Organizations that deal with helping — I think most people do it out of altruistic motives. Salaries there aren't the highest. I don't think you should seek professional competencies there — you need to think you're going for something else. There are organizations that aren't typically charitable — they help industries develop better, help certain areas connect with each other. That's a different area. You can gain competencies there, being a coordinator of some project. When you asked the question, I was thinking more about social actions in the sense of foundations supporting excluded or disadvantaged people. But other kinds of activities are more like business or close to business. I think, for example, when we help families or children who obviously have problems — that's a different kind of thinking.

We have such people... let me give you an example — because we're a family company, we belong to FBN, the Family Business Network, where about 100 organizations connect these people and help each other. You can certainly learn many things there. What you're saying is indeed much wiser — like the famous saying about giving someone a fish or a fishing rod. What you're talking about is more like giving the fishing rod, because you help by showing or hinting rather than doing things for them. Such competencies can be acquired even while still at university. There are many students, many young people — it's like a Gaussian curve. There's always a portion of the population who make things happen. If people engage in student organizations, scientific circles — they have some internal drive that makes them want to do something. Such people always appear in society. I think even the complaints today that 'the new generation is not like that' — it's a bit like with the Gaussian curve. We always have that portion of the population. In the 1990s, we had a big social breakdown from the 1980s, and when McDonald's entered Poland, suddenly they found a group of people selling hamburgers who were organized, happy, worked great. While at state-owned shops, the ladies lay on the counter and couldn't care less. Yet McDonald's managed to find such people. That's why I think there will always be young people who want to change the world or actively do something. They existed in my time studying in the 1980s, and today in the 2000s they also appear. Whether the percentage is larger or smaller — it's hard to measure.

Look — note that a whole mass of companies are being created, internet companies and others. They're being created in somewhat different areas. In my time, these possibilities didn't exist, but there were other possibilities — there was a shortage of any goods, so it was much easier in the early 1990s when the economy was changing. But today the opportunities are different, and these people are appearing. Enterprises are being created, a whole mass of internet companies. Today, young people have much greater opportunities — they have access to a broadly defined market through the internet. You can sell everything. But I think each decade brings new possibilities, new changes. What used to be our business at a high growth level now looks flatter in Western Europe, but we're still growing. You can see that technology and internet businesses are growing like mushrooms after rain. There's a big direction toward e-commerce, data science. And these young people are using that niche. A whole mass of startups are appearing. Some succeed, of course — only a small percentage survive, but they try.

They will always appear. Entrepreneurial people will always be there. There will always be someone who wants to change the status quo. Entrepreneurship is really the desire to change the current state in one area or another of the economy, the desire to improve that area. And there will always be someone who has the idea and the courage and that inner drive to do it. Look at what's appearing today — there's a strange new profession called 'barber.' In my times, you went to a hairdresser. But today my young friends go to a barbershop around the corner. A whole mass of barbershops have opened. Young people who might have been ordinary hairdressers have created their own small businesses. It will keep changing and developing. I believe in entrepreneurship, especially — I think we as Poles probably show a higher level of entrepreneurship than other nations. Young people don't remember, but in the late 1970s and 1980s, a trip to the West in a Fiat 126p through Ukraine, through Bulgaria — you could buy one pair of pants, sell another, buy Biseptol and sell it, and the whole trip paid for itself. That's the fruit of Polish entrepreneurship, and I think today something similar is happening. That's why the Polish economy is in better shape than even our neighbors. We're a bit unruly. In Spain, they call people from Barcelona 'Polacos' — why? Because Poles are rebellious, unruly, wanting change, not giving up. So I think this will last with us.

Competencies are one thing, values are another. Listen, about values — when a young person comes to us, I start by saying there are three fundamental values that everyone's parents taught, and I also repeat: honesty, justice, and tolerance. Don't cheat, don't lie, don't cut corners, because it has short legs and sooner or later it will end badly. If somewhere along the way you forgot what your mother taught you, at our company we'll teach you again. Remember this — it's important. It's worth being honest because it always comes back. Everyone wants to be treated honestly, everyone wants to be treated fairly — even the CEO, even anyone in the organization. Young people creating their own companies should remember these values. As for competencies — it depends on the area. But I think it would be worth for each of them to be curious about the world, to look for something new, not just do what's given to them, not be closed in their little drawer, but to look for something new, wanting to discover. Because we're constantly looking for such people. If you ask who we're looking for — we're looking for interesting people, people who want to change something, people who want to challenge things. Because they are small entrepreneurs within our company. I don't know exactly what Sebastian does in logistics or what Arek does hiring his 400 IT people — I just keep believing that they're doing good, proper things. So I encourage young people to be curious about the world and to question reality as much as possible — wisely, but to question it. Thanks to that, they'll develop the companies they work for or their own businesses, and they'll be needed by the market.