How our programmes work

“Most companies in crisis tighten control. Bayer did the opposite — they blew up bureaucracy and began running like a network of a thousand start-ups.”
— Kate W. Isaacs and Michele Zanini, MIT Sloan Management Review

In 2023, Bayer — the 150-year-old pharmaceutical giant — faced what its own board called an existential crisis: expiring patents, billions in litigation, and declining performance. The traditional response would have been another round of cost-cutting and control. Instead, Bayer’s CEO Bill Anderson and Chief Catalyst Michael Lurie made a radical choice — to dismantle bureaucracy and rebuild the company around what they call Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO).

Under DSO, decision-making and accountability were pushed outwards. Tens of thousands of employees were reorganised into entrepreneurial, self-managing teams — each treated as a mini-business operating with autonomy and purpose. Managers were cut by half, hierarchies collapsed from twelve layers to as few as three, and leadership was redefined around four roles: Visionary, Architect, Catalyst, and Coach (VACC).

The results have been extraordinary. One pharmaceutical product team brought a billion-dollar drug to market a full year faster than before, with 50% greater growth than projected — not because of tighter oversight, but because leadership became distributed.

Bayer’s transformation captures what many organisations are now realising: in a fast-changing world, control kills adaptability. When things speed up, the old instinct is to manage harder. But the companies thriving today are doing the reverse — they are trusting their people as fully formed adults, creating systems that enable rather than constrain.

That moment from Bayer’s story captures what many organisations are discovering: traditional hierarchy and control no longer work in complex environments. When things speed up, the old instinct is to manage harder. But the organisations thriving today are doing the reverse — distributing leadership, increasing trust, and inviting people to think and act as owners.

At Emergent Works, we believe that’s also what effective leadership development should do.
Our philosophy — Lead Integrated — is built on the conviction that leadership cannot be separated from the person who leads. It’s not something to be taught, but something to be revealed through real experience, reflection, and relationship.

1. We design for discovery, not instruction

As Forbes puts it in It’s Time to Stop Teaching Leaders, real leadership learning happens through experience, not explanation. Our programmes centre on reflection, experimentation, and dialogue — helping leaders uncover their own insights instead of memorising ours.

2. We connect identity with impact

Leadership begins with self-awareness. By exploring who they are — their beliefs, emotional patterns, and presence — participants learn how those inner dynamics shape their teams and results. When people lead from alignment, they lead with integrity.

3. We make complexity human

Bayer’s transformation to Dynamic Shared Ownership was built around self-managing teams and 90-day learning cycles. Our programmes use a similar rhythm. Leaders practise sensing, deciding, and learning in tight loops — turning complexity into movement rather than paralysis.

4. We grow enablers, not enforcers

As Bayer’s leaders describe, today’s leadership is about being a Visionary, Architect, Catalyst, and Coach (VACC). That’s the shift we help leaders make — from control to enablement, from answers to inquiry, from authority to influence.