Re:‘Flat’ company structures rarely work, but some firms aim...
by davorak on Saturday August 26, 2023 @12:45PM
(#37274429)
> There's been a fair bit of noise about needing HR departments in order to enforce safeguards (which depending on who you ask will look like standardized interview processes or quotas or whatever). That's hierarchy and structure.
> « Flat does not me you do not have systems or and controls. »
> Something that's nominally flat may not actually be flat in practice, yes. That's actually the main idea presented in "The Tyranny of Structurelessness".
You seem to be assume that flat organizations have zero structure and hierarchies. I have never seen the term used that way. 'flat' as in in flat organization is a coined term/phrase as far as I know so 'flat' is not 100% literal.
I have only see flat organization to mean less hierarchy relative to the standard. Often meaning there are fewer layers of managers between the ceo and the typical employee. I assume the term was coined to contrast the more pyramid like structure of managers that exist in some companies.
> The companies may reflect the same biases as society, without safeguards to avoid them.
which is as close to a justification as the article comes to, which does not seem to apply more to flat organizations than not. »
There's been a fair bit of noise about needing HR departments in order to enforce safeguards (which depending on who you ask will look like standardized interview processes or quotas or whatever). That's hierarchy and structure.
« Flat does not me you do not have systems or and controls. »
Something that's nominally flat may not actually be flat in practice, yes. That's actually the main idea presented in "The Tyranny of Structurelessness".