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Build "natural", flexible hierarchies

“We have to de-couple authority and influence from hierarchical position.”

As change accelerates, authoritarian power structures will become ever more untenable. In traditional hierarchies, power flows down from the top, rather than up from the bottom. This model has several unfortunate side effects. It tempts senior executives to hire in their own image, and thus reduces genetic diversity. It encourages managers to safeguard their careers by “managing up,” rather than by managing out and down. It produces frequent misalignments between positional power and leadership capability, and thereby undermines employee morale. To overcome these failings, the traditional top-down pyramid must be replaced by a “natural” hierarchy, where status and influence derive from the ability to lead rather than from the ability to accumulate positional power. In addition, hierarchies need to be dynamic, so that power flows rapidly toward those who are adding value and away from those who aren’t.

42 Stories
108 Hacks
6 Barriers

Build "natural", flexible hierarchies

“We have to de-couple authority and influence from hierarchical position.”

As change accelerates, authoritarian power structures will become ever more untenable. In traditional hierarchies, power flows down from the top, rather than up from the bottom. This model has several unfortunate side effects. It tempts senior executives to hire in their own image, and thus reduces genetic diversity. It encourages managers to safeguard their careers by “managing up,” rather than by managing out and down. It produces frequent misalignments between positional power and leadership capability, and thereby undermines employee morale. To overcome these failings, the traditional top-down pyramid must be replaced by a “natural” hierarchy, where status and influence derive from the ability to lead rather than from the ability to accumulate positional power. In addition, hierarchies need to be dynamic, so that power flows rapidly toward those who are adding value and away from those who aren’t.

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Wouldn't it be great to get a crowd of experts to invest a bit of time in your enterprise in an effective and meaningful way, especially when traditional investment is too costly or simply not availab
Hack by Alexander Polonsky on July 18, 2011
What if you would organize your company without any management? Without any rules? Would that work? At Finext, the Netherlands, we make it work for already 20 years.
Story by JD Hogendoorn on January 4, 2016
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Hack by Aaron Brook on September 21, 2012
Purpose Innovation driven “purpose bundles”, are products and services from variety of related and unrelated industry providers that are bundled togeth
Hack by Charles Prabakar on May 26, 2011
Information in the companies is stuck between front line employees and middle management.
Story by Andreas Stokas on July 18, 2011
BREP would stand for: Back to basics; Rational expectations; customer Experience management; and Patterns management.
Hack by Ovidiu Slavoiu on June 25, 2010
A small not-for-profit introduces a summer job program for youth with support from the federal government.
Story by Behzad on July 14, 2013
Critical Business Change is a new way of thinking to help companies evolve in a changing, interconnected world.
Hack by Orlando Solis on October 15, 2010

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