> suddenly, communicating ideas openly for people only interested in the product and the customer - and by doing that jumping over hierarchy's is a criminal off

> suddenly, communicating ideas openly for people only interested in the product and the customer - and by doing that jumping over hierarchy's is a criminal offense - the last terminal stage is reached. This is not a bad thing. The key is some hierarchy is good. For example, often in small organizations the product is at the mercy of the loudest sales person, demanding the feature to make their sale. SalesPersonX needs FeatureY to close a $50,000 deal, when CustomerA, CustomerB, and CustomerC have all requested ImprovementD, maybe they'll renew without it, maybe not. Someone needs to make this call: prioritize ImprovementD or FeatureY. Maybe they can both get done this year, maybe not. It's a business decision, either keep current customer happy or drive for sales. Usually SalesPersonX knows RockstarZ's number and calls him directly. RockstarZ get's burned out from the constant pressure and quits. So, someone needs to be gathering feedback from customers and prospects, build a roadmap, then project management can concentrate on delivering features. Some hierarchy is required for long term growth and stability. If you're sales people are burning out your Devs, you've got a problem. And you're goddamned right I'm going be harsh on the sales guy who's calling my devs directly.