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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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Within Teeme collaboration is like growing a tree together. The leaves are the building block of the collaboration and collective contributions of the leaves form a tree.
Hack by Sanjay Singhai on July 17, 2011
Many organisations of various sizes are built on hierarchy and driven by status, encouraging people up the organisational management ladder.
Hack by Heidi De Wolf on December 10, 2013
A transparent societal environment where all societal roles have been updated and kept current without having to learn anything to get into the right mode with the right tools and the right framework.
Hack by Bala Subramanian on June 25, 2011
Most companies have internal employee portals - the one where all employees are expected to or voluntarily sign in everyday. Here, it is easy to search for any employee (via their ID no.).
Hack by Joel Modestus on July 14, 2013
If value chains are being transformed into value networks and hierarchies turn into collaborative communities, will traditional sales still be effective?
Hack by andreas uthmann on June 2, 2011
The interest in alternative forms of organization is helped by a greater understanding of their nature.In this Hack, I hope to be clear about what management-less organizations are NOT
Hack by Julian Wilson on November 3, 2014
 1 Contesting(even opposing)in politics, or military, can not only facilitate social progress in terms of science and technology, liberty and democracy and so on, but also have devastating conseq
Hack by Aaron Brook on November 6, 2012
Millions of people labour under managers that do not motivate them or enable them to reach their potential. The resulting waste is huge. The solution is simple: let people choose their managers.
Hack by Henry Stewart on May 11, 2012

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