Hierarchy in Organizations

There seems to be a tendency in organizations to remove hierarchy
and to implement self-organizing teams. Unfortunately, the latter
will be in limbo as long as residues of the old static hierarchy
exists.


Hierarchy and authority are very relevant topics in group
dynamics and reccuring themes, that come up during T-Groups and
other group dynamic events. Because of that, it might be
interesting to see the real-world impact if those concepts unfold
outside of the protected space of educational/trainings settings.
At the same time, education seems to be the basis to put
organizations out of their misery in terms of fear and anxiety
when it comes to recuding static hierarchy. 


Constantin von Mengersen (and his amazing dog, participating as a
guest at some times), a highly experienced professional, shares
his thoughts about the clash of cultures between subject matter
experts who are getting their job well done and authorities
holding formal power.


This co-existence leads to anxiety and fear in organizations:
formal authorities fear that they are made redundant by subject
matter experts (SME) and they themselves fear formal authorities
to (ab)use their formal power, limiting the efficiency of getting
things done “the new way”.


Formal authority mutes and overwrites competence authority of SME
– or simply ignores it - especially when it comes to decisions in
difficult times, where the organization is at risk.


We try to untangle the difference between managers (who are
primarily incompetent when it comes to the job of a manager,
contrary to a subject matter expert), leaders, people with
“Weisungsbefugnis” (who are able to tell you what to do, who to
give you the task environment) and subject matter experts which
are different and connected in many ways.