Explore the shift from traditional hierarchies to agile, horizontal structures for high performance.
By Howard M. Guttman
Aspect | Hierarchical Organizations | Horizontal Organizations |
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Top Leader | CEO as Chief Executive | CEO as Chief Enabler |
Top Team | Confederation of functions | Union of owners |
Leadership | Leader/followers | Leader/leader-player dynamic |
Business Teams | Conflict-averse, “me/my-oriented” followers, hesitant to cross boundaries or call out poor performance | Fully engaged, “we”-focused high-performing players, guided by ground rules, adept at conflict management |
Line of Sight | Strategically misaligned, given silo orientation | Strategically aligned from vision to operational objectives, from planning to decision making |
Decision Making | Positional model that delegates responsibility from the top down | Leveraged model that distributes responsibility across the organization |
Accountability | Limited to accountability for own and subordinates’ results | Goes beyond own and subordinates’ accountability to include accountability for peers and leaders |
Culture | Values getting along/going along | Values transparency and confrontation |
Outcomes | Politics govern | Results rule |