Nowadays, thinking and acting hierarchically are anachronisms which cost a company a lot of money. How many good ideas can still make their way through the “authorities”? How high are the friction losses, how much motivation has been stalled, how much of value has been lost, if ideas are bent in shape and adjusted, by the time they finally arrive at the person making the final decision.

This is why companies today often are in a dilemma. On one hand we know that the paths of yesterday are only conditionally leading to the desired results. On the other hand we cling to an order that leaves no room for creativity and a free way of thinking.

For a long time, the solution to get out of this dilemma seemed to be the “low profile hierarchy”. However, when taking a closer look it becomes evident that the term “low profile hierarchy” often is pure management talk. For instance, there are public development aid organizations which have, if counted carefully, nine hierarchical levels. And they like to be commended for their “low profile hierarchy”.

In the first few months of employment, new staff members are usually rather busy finding out, how they should conduct themselves; which written and unwritten rules they need to adhere to in order to stand their ground within the company.

In a study of the FAZ Institute and Steria Mummert you can read, among other things, that in three of ten reviewed businesses complex hierarchies often impede the decision making processes. Often the employees don’t feel responsible for certain tasks, since the necessary responsibilities have not been resolved sufficiently.

It is high time to verify yesterday’s hierarchies which are still in place in companies. It is time to open the doors and to be approachable, regardless of the functional-hierarchical narrow-minded thinking.

Organizational charts are very close to the architecture of pre-fabricated high-rise buildings. The narrow-minded and jurisdictional thinking can easily change competence into a doubtful ambition for power that overcomes people as soon as they realize that they are basically sandwiched between above and below.

To master the challenges of tomorrow it is necessary to think about to what extent the hierarchies installed in the past need to be disposed of in order to make room for a new order.

It’s not that easy to simply get rid of hierarchies. Often they outlast generations. Hierarchies can thwart coworkers. Hierarchies lead to safeguarding. Don’t make any mistakes, don’t take risks.

People are rightly asking for liberties in social life. The uniqueness, which Creation gave to human beings to take along on their journey through life, shall not be curtailed. The necessary system within a society or business has to give the ability to the single person to develop and to play a part with his or her abilities and ambitions. The tasks of tomorrow require a big portion of courage, creativity, open-mindedness and mutual trust and respect of all those who want to be successful in a business together. Old-fashioned hierarchical thinking is obstructive.

We do not need that many departmental heads, heads of department, managing agents, chief representatives, directors and board members, only because old hierarchies stipulate them in organizational charts. Responsible action in this context creates liberties, which strengthen competitiveness of a company and lead to advantage.