This article got it all wrong. The management hierarchy is merely a proxy that reflects the real power structure in the organization. Even if you successfully e

This article got it all wrong. The management hierarchy is merely a proxy that reflects the real power structure in the organization. Even if you successfully eliminated engineering managers, there will always be an implicit hierarchy which is worse IMO. You're not supposed to pretend like there's no such structure; you need to reflect it transparently and put those with powers to the position accountable for the decision they made. I remember an interview from a former Valve employee [1] who described the company culture as "high school". This precisely points out the problem lying under those manager-less structure. The exact quote was: > "But the one thing I found out the hard way is that there is actually a hidden layer of powerful management structure in the company and it felt a lot like high school. There are popular kids that have acquired power in the company, then there's the trouble makers, and everyone in between." [1] https://www.polygon.com/2013/7/8/4503326/valve-hiring-and-firing-process-compared-to-high-school-cliques-by https://www.polygon.com/2013/7/8/4503326/valve-hiring-and-fi...