There are no personal offices at Supercell, just several conference rooms with names like “Ultramarine” and “Unicorn Tears,” (a room with couches, stuffed unicorns and a TV). When you walk around Supercell’s offices, it seems that every group has its own corner, yet they freely mingle throughout the day. Sure, there’ s a team member that keeps the group adhering to some kind of schedule, but the chemistry of autonomy seems to have created a sense of responsibility that keeps the cells moving of their own volition. When I sat down with CEO Ilkka Paananen, a boyish 34-year-old decked out in Supercell attire, he told me his goal was to become the world’s least powerful CEO by relinquishing control to these “cells.” “Get the best people then get out of the way and let those people do their jobs,” Paananen said.Įvery cell makes its own decisions – regarding how to change or whether to kill a game – and the idea of having an autocratic leader in any group is abhorrent to the company. Supercell’s culture is all about small teams with autonomy doing what they do best.
