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I'm skeptical when people claim that their lack of managers mean they don't have a hierarchy. If there isn't an official hierarchy there will still be an unoffi
by brown9-2 13y ago
I'm skeptical when people claim that their lack of managers mean they don't have a hierarchy. If there isn't an official hierarchy there will still be an unofficial one in some way - founders and early employees with more esteem/authority, etc.
- ben_straub 13y agoSpot on. What you're describing is leadership, which is pretty deeply wired into human nature. We don't try to avoid this; rather, we want to recognize it as a discipline, and help people become better at it. Authority, however, is totally different. It's the power to make someone do something they don't want to, and we try our darnedest to avoid that kind of situation. (Also note that "having authority" is different from "being authoritative".)