> When you allow a power vacuum to emerge someone will fill it, and it’s usually the people who have traditionally held power
I've never really given this issue much thought, but it sounds reasonable. Illusions can be dangerous, including the illusion of equality.
I was instantly reminded of the famous commandment in Animal Farm : "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". It now seems almost naive to pretend that there wouldn't be people in the organization with vastly more power than others.
All that said, until very recently I was someone who admired GitHub's flat hierarchy from afar. If they were being naive, then so was I.
It's not that you can't have flat hierarchy, it's that you have to ensure that it's supported by transparency and process to then prevent it actually being a mask for another power structure.
That is the major failing with a lot of the companies doing this. The belief that everyone shares the same ideals and it will work itself out without requiring very strict constraints and process.
All that happens is that the inequalities are layered behind façades, becoming a lot harder to address and resolve than if a traditional power structure was used.
> It's not that you can't have flat hierarchy, it's that you have to ensure that it's supported by transparency and process to then prevent it actually being a mask for another power structure.
To wit, this is the actual democratic experiment that people keep thinking they refer to when talking about America.
"Holacracies" aren't impossible. It's just that they're hard. Brady's point is more that many people refuse to admit this and, accordingly, run into the worst problems posed rather than having ways to deal with them as they arise.
I've never really given this issue much thought, but it sounds reasonable. Illusions can be dangerous, including the illusion of equality.
I was instantly reminded of the famous commandment in Animal Farm : "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". It now seems almost naive to pretend that there wouldn't be people in the organization with vastly more power than others.
All that said, until very recently I was someone who admired GitHub's flat hierarchy from afar. If they were being naive, then so was I.