Warby Parker Is Getting Better Results By Reducing Managers’ Control Over Workers

The problem Warby Parker faced was not unusual nor particularly complicated: How could the trendy eyewear company make better use of its computer programmers’ time? To solve that mundane quandary, the company could have hired an outside consultant, or reorganized its engineering department. Instead, Warby Parker did something radical: It let its employees decide. The company invented a process that invites all of its 800 workers to help manage the business. The new system, called Warbles, lets employees across Warby Parker nominate programming projects. Managers vote on them by assigning points to the tasks they think would add the most value. The programmers then get to pick the projects they’re most interested in, but they’re rewarded if they pick the ones with the most points. Teams of computer engineers compete to accumulate the most points, and after every quarter, the winning team gets a prize. Read more at Quartz.