Hierarchies are NOT Dead
I saw this post on LinkedIn about company hierarchies being dead, and I can’t resist responding to it.
Note: article - English version: https://www.thebrokernews.ch/are-hierarchies-deadi-if-you-ask-me-yes/
Hierarchies are NOT dead. They are alive and quite well!
I remember when Frederic Laloux published his book—Reinventing Organizations about ten years ago.
Everyone in the Agile community, including me, started using it as an evolutionary message for organizations attempting agile transformations.
We established a new language around Amber, Red, Orange, Teal, and Green to categorize our clients. “Get to Teal” is a widely heard goal. Many used it as a healthy mechanism to evaluate client level, but some wielded the colors as judgment cudgels.
The idea, as in the article, was to encourage organizations, among other things, to flatten themselves, create a more self-organizing operating model, and be far more transparent with organizational information (salaries).
As the post alludes to, quite a few models have emerged that consider these strategies and recommendations.
But it doesn’t stick
While this perspective might be challenging, I don’t think organizational hierarchies are disappearing. Further, the ongoing challenge to traditional leadership styles and hierarchy strikes me as a Don Quixote effort.
Sure, some companies (smaller, start-ups, visionaries) are adopting these approaches with success.
For example, look at Tesla. While the operating model has evolved and is different, there is still a clear leader (Elon) and a clear hierarchy (of trusted underlings).
Wrapping Up
Hierarchies and associated boards, C-level, and senior leaders are NOT dead. They are alive and well!
What’s your evidence, Bob?
Well, look around. I’ll believe that hierarchies are dead—
When Tim Cook distributes authority at Apple,
When Jamie Dimon reads and implements Jutta Eckstein’s BOSSA book and applies it to JPMorgan Chase,
When Mark Zuckerberg starts talking about his Going for Teal strategy at Meta,
When Elon Musk distributes his bonus to every employee at Tesla,
When Sundar Pichai, adopts Sociocracy at Google,
When Bob Iger turns Disney into a Liquid Organization,
When GM or Ford leadership teams adopt unFIX or Corporate Rebels organizational strategies,
When Jeff Bezos applies Holacracy to Amazon and The Washington Post,
When (pick your large, staid, hierarchical organization)…
THEN, I’ll get on the Hierarchies are DEAD bandwagon with both feet.
Wrong Strategy
Not only do I think this is the wrong view, but I think it’s the wrong strategy. Instead of trying to change companies from the outside with articles, new approaches, recommendations, whining, and judgment, I think we should partner with the hierarchy, join the hierarchy, and then change it from the inside out. Only from the inside will the above companies and many more adopt true organizational transformation. As always, IMHO.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
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