4 Ways to Improve the Life Sucking Beast of Hierarchy
Hierarchies done poorly are life sucking beasts. But there is no perfect organizational structure.
Advantages and dangers of hierarchy
#1. Advantage: Clear lines of accountability.
You always know who is in charge in hierarchies. The reason you care about something in hierarchical organizations is the person over you cares about it.
Dangers:
- Pleasing higher ups and neglecting lower downs.
- Following instructions and not rocking the boat is advantageous.
- Leading is about position not competence.
- Success is about compliance not creativity.
#2. Advantage: Clear communication channels.
Communication goes up and down the chain of command through bosses.
Dangers:
- Bosses craft messages for personal advantage. Office politics thrive in bureaucracy.
- Teams don’t know what’s happening in other departments.
- Reporting gets out of hand. Leaders feel pressure to know everything that’s happening. They could be asked by a higher up for a report. It’s very bad to say, “I don’t know.”
#3. Advantage: Speed in turbulence and crisis.
Everyone looks to ‘the’ leader to set direction and make decisions when times get tough.
Danger:
- Decisions slow to a crawl on day-to-day matters. People down the chain are afraid to make decisions out of fear of people up the chain.
- Paperwork becomes burdensome.
- Discussion, input, and feedback are strictly managed and controlled. Truth-telling is rare.
4 ways to improve hierarchies:
- Include the best interest of external customers in everything. Make pleasing customers more important than pleasing higher ups.
- Establish cross functional teams that have authority to make decisions and take action.
- Expect higher ups to walk around and talk with people. (Please don’t make this a production.)
- Place recordings of most meetings on the company’s intranet so all employees can tune in and keep current.
Warning: Poorly functioning hierarchies improve slowly. They don’t enjoy being disturbed.
How might hierarchies function more effectively.
Interesting topic! This is truly a frustration for all and you said it well!
Thanks Marc and Ann. I tried to come at this from a realistic approach. Hierarchies are part of organizational life. They aren’t going away.
Dan,
You hit item #1 on 4 ways for improvements. Pleasing customers comes first, without them we don’t exist in a business world. the other reality as you know you can’t please everyone! We try our best in pleasing them when it comes to Bosses! Surely if the Boss understands customers they will see the final return. “Micro-managing” can cause more conflict than it’s worth sometimes, but ROI has to be met to succeed.
For us, it is the understanding the customer’s needs and the components the workers need to do the job correctly.
Thanks Tim. Your mention of micro-managing caught my eye. I think hierarchy lends itself to micro-managing. Mostly because fear of making mistakes is powerful in tight command and control environments.
Dan, Absolutely micro-managing is part of the portfolio, as “mistakes” cost everyone! The Hierarchy typically gets the brunt of it till it works its way down the pecking order! Leaders need to pay attention to the details constantly for the end result to be a clean solution. Often times the “fluff factor” does not exist, they need concise information to complete the end results.
Problem we see is “Leadership Concepts and Training” are not viewed often as something Directors need. Director Blind Spots. It is as if they believe they have reached a hierarchical position based on their competence. I’m a director so I must not need Leadership Training. Obviously I am competent, as a Director, so training does not apply to me. It applies to those ‘below’ me.
Unfortunately, when training is given to those ‘below’ they see the value in the concepts and application AND then the absence of Directors applying those concepts.
How to influence/pull directors into the training is a big challenge. Job titles can get in the way.
Thanks Will. Brilliant observation. It’s unfortunate when upper management doesn’t keep working to develop themselves. It’s easy to allow the day to day pressures of leadership to be the reason we don’t pour into our own cups. If we aren’t careful we become complacent, even arrogant.
It’s important for organizational leaders to model the way when it comes to leadership development.
HEY Dan. Thanks for the endorsement. I have shared it with the person I share Leadership Training with. We have a great team of 2 and these type of comments come when external processing occurs. The good thing also is we give it time to brew, stew, simmer and eventually produce clarity. Never in a hurry! I am going to encourage her to start commenting as well.
Dan, Nailed it! I have been frustrated with the devils of hierarchy myself. Your comment “Reporting gets out of hand. Leaders feel pressure to know everything that’s happening” is absolutely on point. I have peers who spend so much time “keeping in the loop” with their subordinates that the subordinates barely have time to get away and focus. Talk about helicopter parenting! I did that too, for a long time. And then one day, I learned to face the fear of “saying I don’t know.” I now say this to my bosses who want the status, “I am sorry! I don’t know the details from today but will get back to you with more. What would you like to know and by when?”
Thanks Niraj. Love your transparency. More leaders would benefit from learning the power of saying, “I don’t know. I’ll get back to you this afternoon.”
I always hated the busy work of giving too many details to a paranoid boss.
I spent (far too) many years in extremely hierarchical organisations.
Two further, major problems around hierarchies are that they are very often very risk-averse. Not losing is far more important than winning.
Another is that delegation is often very limited, which stifles flexibility and the ability to react.
Cross-group teams can get mired because they are accountable *to everyone* and have no authority *from anyone*, hence many good ideas are generated which are never implemented, killing enthusiasm and innovation.
Hierarchies, because of their closely-defined lines of responsibility, also tend not to support the idea that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Thanks Mitch. I can tell you speak from experience. Pointing out the problem of cross functional teams is important. We get enamored with the term ‘cross functional’. That’s why it’s imperative to give them authority along with a mission to fulfill. If they have to run everything up the chain of command, you just added another layer of hierarchy.
When giving teams authority, values and a clear mission/project to complete with a timeline/deadline are also essential. In any case, it takes patience and persistence to make a ding in a dysfunctional hierarchy.
I think a few pockets of freedom are possible if the leader in those areas is confident and willing to take risks.
Hierarchies work best when higher-ups regard lower-downs as higher-ups.
Thanks Dan. I really enjoy a well turned phrase.
Nice. I see hierarchies as being a lot less “messy” insofar as getting things done in most organizations. But, at the same time, I think that the issue is more about, pardon the expression, “Freaking Leadership!” — The first thought that I had in reading was the reality, “I’m the boss!” with the appropriate response, “Yes, you certainly are.” — this connected to that organizational reality that BOSS spelled backwards is self-explanatory when it comes to listening skills and the ability to accept new ideas…
You get me thinkin’ most times, Dan. Keep up the good work.
But, the question is, “HOW do we get these kinds of things from thoughts to actions?”
Thanks Dr. Scott. Yes! The only way to get things going in a stagnant hierarchy is to find a boss/leader who courageously takes action. Trouble is, at the first mistake, they get punished.
I’m a fan of solving big problems in small ways. Give up on transforming the whole organization. Make things better with the people around you.
Another problem is backstabbers thrive in hierarchy. They go up the chain and tattle to leaders who are drunk on title and authority.
Thank you Dan for great insights. The onus is on the leaders. They need to get up and cut through the levels. Liked your idea about meeting records on the intranet.
Thanks for the post. I think that best part of having a hierarchy is your third point. When it hits the fan it is good to have one person to look to, to solve the problem, instead of having 10 people give their opinion. The issue will be resolved more quickly if one person is in charge.
Interesting recommendations. Would like to add that hierarchical organizations also fail because we have people in leadership roles who don’t know how to lead by setting an example, articulating clear expectations, and then getting out of the way to let their managers do the job they were hired to do. Most of your “tips” wouldn’t be necessary if executives learned to manage something other than board members and stock prices.R