Hierarchies and self-organized working - a controversy in itself?

???Working in an environment with low hierarchies or even no hierarchies at all has become a standard pitch for most employers. This is undeniable an ideal state and low hierarchies support self-organizing teams finding their ways of working and adapting to changes faster because of shorter feedback cycles and faster decisions.

?? Still, the promoted statement of almost no hierarchies at all in the entire organization is not reflecting reality. Most companies still have strict hierarchies and reporting lines in place while stating they have no hierarchies at all. This is not necessarily a bad thing but one should play with open cards and create a workplace where this organizational structure is transparently communicated.

???We also believe in low hierarchies, no hierarchies at all is only working in extensively mature teams and requires a very high trust level in your colleagues’ capabilities. There is no bad thing about hierarchies if they are played out correctly. There are experts for different aspects and topics, leave the decisions to the ones who understand the underlying problems and challenges enough so that they can take well thought-through decisions which are the best for your organization.

???In that case, there is a hierarchy in the decision-making process. There are leaders and followers, everyone can take over the role of one or the other from time to time. Of course that requires trust. Trust in you as a person to take over the lead and trust in the entire organization as well. ??

???The old idol of being the boss who rules them all and has the saying in every little aspect ultimately ending up in micromanagement structures is outdated, we all know that. Top-down micromanagement is blocking innovation and leads to an unhealthy and mostly toxic working environment.

???But that does not mean that hierarchies in general are contradicting adaptability and innovation. By nature you will always have hierarchies in your organization, if not defined by roles they will form automatically because of experience levels, trust in and integrity of people. You don’t have to enforce having no hierarchy at all, embed that fact into your organizational structure and don’t put to much emphasis on displaying reporting lines and titles. Rather focus on the value streams of your organization and put your people back in the center of interest - not titles. Hierarchies will form automatically, but with one huge difference - buy-in, because your people chose their leaders on their own.

???This believe led us to building the modern way of displaying organizational structures with our team topology editor. Instead of just displaying conservative old-fashioned organigrams, we put our focus on how the organization really works, the touch points between teams and interactions with the customers.

What is your take on that? ??