Flatter is Better

Thomas Friedman is the author of “The World is Flat” (see below) which deals with the subject of the flattening of the globe and what it means to how we perceive the world and behave in it.

The concept of “flattening” applies to organizations too.

I am generally not in favour of hierarchal systems although dictatorship in a business organization does have its advantages in terms of quick decision making and implementing those decisions. It also seems logical that the entrepreneur who is taking the risk should have the right to make decisions and impose them on others who depend on him/her.

The Sunday New York Times Business Section has a weekly column “Corner Office” in which CEO’s are interviewed about aspects of their companies and their personal development and leadership strategies. They talk about delegation, hiring, qualities which make great employees, how to get the best out of their team, etc.

In late January, Corner Office did an interview with Cristobal Conde, CEO of a software and IT Services company.

The interview begins with a question and answer:

“Q. What are your thoughts on collaborative versus top-down management?


A. Collaboration is one of the most difficult challenges in management. I think top-down organizations got started because the bosses either knew more or they had access to more information. None of that applies now. Everybody has access to identical amounts of information.”

Collaboration flattens the organization and flattening leads to collaboration. If you think collaboration is good, and I do for a variety of reasons, how do you promote it.

Though the inteview is short, Conde makes a couple of comments that, in my opinion, are relevant to managing a vibran, creative organization. He first mentions his twitter-like system which he calls Yammer, an intranet communication link which allows people to share what others are doing, share information, brag about successes – “that is what flattens the organization”.

He also describes how and why he moved from command-and-control management to delegation which involves choosing the right people, delegating to them and holding them accountable. I would add mentoring and fostering creativity as factors as well.  The interview continues with:

Q. Besides the endless travel of that year, was there something else that made you shift styles [from command and control to collaboration and delegation] ?

A. Yes, it was a huge disagreement with somebody who worked for me directly, and he ended up quitting shortly thereafter. And it wasn’t that the decision that we disagreed on was so big. It was more that, to him, it just wasn’t as much fun anymore. He felt he could do more, and I was in his way. I was chasing away somebody extremely valuable, and that is when I realized I never would have put up with that myself. If you start micromanaging people, then the very best ones leave.


If the very best people leave, then the people you’ve got left actually require more micromanagement. Eventually, they get chased away, and then you’ve got to invest in a whole apparatus of micromanagement. Pretty soon, you’re running a police state. So micromanagement doesn’t scale because it spirals down, and you end up with below-average employees in terms of motivation and ability.

Conde says, his new way of management is the way to “Get world class people and keep them.”

In a business environment and world in which people change jobs, homes, careers many times in their lifetime, it seems to make good sense to try to mould your organization to do just this.

I will be travelling over the next few weeks so am posting early.