Re:The Zappos Exodus Continues After a Radical Management Ex...
by XorNot on Friday January 15, 2016 @08:12AM
(#10909059)
I suspect this works in the military because the military doesn't tolerate rebellion - even minor rebellion - much at all. But it has unique, specific privileges that enable this - it's definitely not a model you can apply elsewhere with ease.
This. Classic problem with volunteer organizations. If you have the time, you can have formal meetings using Robert's Rules of Order, which are designed to force decisions by voting after discussion. But that's unwieldy within an operating organization.
The military is formally very hierarchical but, when planning operations, is much less so. There's a military custom that, when discussing a proposed plan, the most junior people speak first. (The elder Moltke is credited with this custom.) This, of course, is to reduce the tendency of people to agree with their superiors. More than that, it's to find holes in a plan before the enemy does. Once the decision is made, everyone is expected to carry it out fully, and not drag their feet, whether they agreed or not.