Org Charts Don’t Mean Command and Control
by Lois Melbourne
Don’t confuse hierarchy with command and control. The mountain doesn’t control the prairie around it just because the river flows down the mountain and into the prairie. Come on, folks. People talk about org charts like they’re a bad thing. That is bunk.
People need structure. We naturally seek relationships, effective communication channels, and some sense of order. Just because your company has a traditional org chart or hierarchy, doesn’t mean it’s managed with command and control, overlords barking orders, micro-managing and over ruling decisions. Those are elements of a culture – not the product of a hierarchy.
Effective businesses are not run by democracy vote. You need the expertise of the employees and the experience of teams to move projects forward, base decisions and execute. If every decision was made by committee or democratic vote of teams, nothing would get done. If you don’t have some people with authority and experience to facilitate the demand of timelines, goals, and production, you don’t have a business you have a commune. The last time I checked, there were not a lot of happy people thriving in this type of economic environment. (Anyone thinking they are thriving in a commune is REALLY under the influence of an overlord-type leader who has typically “whipped” people into submission – thus, we are back to the REAL command and control environment, but with only 2 layers of the org chart – this is bad).
So, stop blaming your org chart for your culture deficiencies. Stop pretending that the new social media is creating networks that will overthrow the need of a decision matrix of some type. Yes, teams are very effective ways to conduct business. Yes, networks are now easier to build and communicate with than ever before.
But is your entire network going to go to the bank to borrow money and explain how it will be managed? Is your entire social network within the company going to go before Congress to illustrate the need for a new way of doing things in your industry? Is your investor going to feel comfortable seeking out responsibility and answers from 10,000 independent employees so that they know how their investment will grow? Is the team going to decide how much money each employee is going to make?
Hmmm, go chew on those questions for awhile, and then tell me how any place over a 10 person company is going to operate without bosses or some type of chain of command. Because, this I want to hear.
Cheers,
Lois
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