What If Nobody Was the Boss?
If every title disappeared tomorrow, who would people still follow? Would it still be you?
At a previous job, there were no offices. Leaders were accessible. Asking the hard questions was a requirement. No externalising was a rule. You owned your results.
We were organised as families, villages and a tribe. Small groups where people knew each other, who came together monthly as a village and annually with the tribe. It created a great sense of belonging and you always looked forward to seeing people.
The books were open. We were trained to read the P&L. Once people understood the numbers, there was more buy-in, and more accountability for expenses.
More typically, we change around the leaders. We will often watch the person with the power, versus trusting our own judgement first. So what if you designed the boss out altogether?
The company that tried
In 1958, Bill Gore and his wife Vieve started W.L. Gore & Associates in Newark, Delaware. Their product: Gore-Tex.
Bill had seen problems solved by small "task force teams" while working at DuPont. In 1967 he introduced the idea of a "lattice" organisation to his staff.
How it works:
Everyone is an associate, not an employee.
No chain of command. No org chart.
Leaders aren't appointed. Peers decide.
Sponsors guide your growth, instead of supervisors.
Small self-managing teams, accountable to each other.
One Gore leader summed it up: "If you call a meeting, and people show up, you're a leader."
Does it work?
In 2017, Gore marked its 20th consecutive year on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, one of just 12 "Great Place to Work Legends" to appear in every edition since the list began in 1998. Going further back, Gore was on every "100 Best Companies to Work For" list since the rankings were introduced in 1984, including the earlier books.
Gore appeared on every Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 20 years straight. In 2020, Fortune reported turnover of just 3%.
Even the top job is earned. Terri Kelly became CEO in 2005 through a peer-driven selection process. Pay is set through peer ranking and review. What do the numbers say about hierarchy?
Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini estimate excess bureaucracy costs the US economy more than $3 trillion a year. Across 32 OECD countries, nearly $9 trillion (Harvard Business Review).
So why doesn't everyone create a business with flat management or without bosses?
In March 2015, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh told staff to fully commit to a no-manager system or leave. 18% took a buyout. To be fair, Hsieh later said about half of those who left did so to chase other passions, not because of the system.
It's also hard to dismantle the thing that made you. Hamel and Zanini point out that managers who excelled in bureaucracies often don't know how to operate without them (Harvard Business Review).
The science, and the catch
In 1972, Jo Freeman published "The Tyranny of Structurelessness," about groups in the women's movement that had no formal leaders. Her finding: remove the hierarchy and an informal one grows in its place. Less visible. Harder to challenge.
So flat isn't the magic. Gore didn't remove structure. It made power earned. My prior org removed the walls and opened the books.
Self-Determination Theory says we perform better when we have choice (autonomy) and feel capable (competence). An open P&L gives people both.
The ACT Reset
Awaken. Notice what people check with you before they act. Where are you the bottleneck?
Curiosity. If your title vanished tomorrow, who would still come to your meeting? Why?
Try. Open one set of numbers your team never sees. Teach them to read it. Then hand over one decision that goes with it.
The uncomfortable challenge
Ask your team one question this week: "What do you check with me that you could decide yourselves?"
Then listen. No explaining why it has to come through you and decide what to do next.
Sources
Wikipedia, W. L. Gore & Associates (founding, DuPont task forces, lattice)
O'Sullivan, M. (2019). "At GORE-TEX there are no management layers." RINewsToday
Management Exchange, Terri Kelly profile
Hamel, G. & Zanini, M. (2017). "Assessment: Do You Know How Bureaucratic Your Organization Is?" Harvard Business Review
Hamel, G. & Zanini, M. (2020). HBR IdeaCast, "Breaking Down Bureaucracy and Building Up Workers"
Quartz (2020). "Zappos has quietly backed away from holacracy"
Freeman, J. (1972). "The Tyranny of Structurelessness"
Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. Self-Determination Theory
