Your Organization Isn't a Hierarchy

How many natural systems are strict hierarchies? That is, for each node in the system, there is one node that is in some way superior to it, until you ultimately reach a single node at the top which has authority over all other nodes. The only ones that come to mind involve animals. Pack leaders, hive queens, and so on. It makes sense, then, that we naturally organize humans this way as well. Some forms of life have some implicit need to be structured into hierarchies, including us. We structure our organizations this way without really asking why. We use it for everything. It’s the standard across governments, corporations, non-profits, small businesses, big businesses, educational institutions, and so on. We just cannot escape the hierarchy.

But why? We’re humans. Having received the gift of fire from Prometheus, shouldn’t we be looking for a better way?

• Hierarchies enable accountability and are essential for humans to function at scale

• Organizations are complex systems of interdependencies and communication channels that do not align to a hierarchy, akin to organs in a living organism

• Only individual organs know how best to serve their functions and should be empowered to do so