First, fire all the bosses…
In response to:
One thing the Un-CEO is about is quashing fads. Too many business practices are here today and gone tomorrow leaving uncertainty and limited productivity in their wake.
The “No Bosses/Flat Organization” fad is one of the latest. I’ve already argued against using sales quotas as a way to “manage” a sales team and I’ll say data in general is a bad manager. For real happiness and productivity employees (teammates, humans in general) need autonomy, mastery and purpose (as spelled out by Daniel Pink). Good bosses can help instill that.
Self-organizing groups can only get so far. Natural leaders will emerge even in boss-less groups, but then isn’t that a “boss”? I will certainly agree that the power that mid-level and low-level bosses have can be curbed, but in giving employees the motivation they need, good bosses – good leaders – are indispensable.
Sources:
Original article from Aeon: NoBoss? No Thanks.
Image Source: The Met Collection. “Figure of a Man, The Lawyer” by Henry William Bunbury, ca. 1790 Pen and brown ink, brush and grey ink wash
