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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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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
What does this mean, "get back to basics?"  Who knows how to do this? It can be difficult if we have lost the knowledge older  better way of doing business.
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on January 10, 2016
Cognitive Science is paving the way for a new kind of management and leadership process.
Hack by Gary Deines on October 17, 2015
The suceess of any organisation depends on the TEAM .
Hack by NAVEEN KHAJANCHI on April 12, 2013
 Absolute value, relative value, and added value(similar to fringe benefits)Humans are the beginning point and ending point of all social sciences.
Hack by Aaron Brook on July 22, 2014
This hack looks at how an organisation or individual is able to cope with current complex environments to deliver high quality work in the required amount of time.
Hack by Paul Pöltner on August 14, 2011
Individuals working in large traditional corporates do have tremendous potential. Are they able to explore all of them? There are number of push-back factors need to be addressed very carefully.
Hack by Ghanshyam Sharan Singh on February 21, 2014
By pooling resources through collaborative consulting, freelancers and independent professionals can make substantial gains in increasing customer value, competitiveness and their bottom lines.
Hack by Wayne Bishop on January 4, 2012
Common purpose organisations are collectives of individuals, come together to achieve a particular purpose that accords with a common purpose of fulfilment without harm for everyone (staff, customers,
Hack by Ben Wallace on March 30, 2012
MOTIONS ; COMMOTION – EMOTION – PROMOTION - DEMOTION all co exist in all organisations.Problem: Most leaders and organizations operate in silo’s and there is no  &
Hack by NAVEEN KHAJANCHI on December 5, 2011

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