Structure vs hierarchy

Structure vs hierarchy - a road in London with a Road Closed sign

The digital economy comes with demands and expectations, or rather assumptions. One assumption is that we can’t operate a business the way we have in the past when it comes to organizational design, change and ways of working.

The demands that this new shift places on organizations is quite significant because it means that hierarchy becomes less important for delivering value and structure (how you actually operate the business) starts to take precedent.

Clearly, we still need people in key roles and customers, employees and others need to know who does what but the emphasis on competing in this current society is more about efficiency in the idea to market mindset. This means involving the stakeholders who will accelerate decision making based on the most valuable work – this isn’t always the exec team. Today, this is often the product managers, real customers, engineers, sales, marketing and finance teams.

Consider

Does your current organization or team align well with the structure needed to execute well or are there some roadblocks based on traditional hierarchy?