The pyramid, the chief organizational principle of the modern corporation, turns a business into a traffic jam. A company starts out like an eight-lane superhighway - the bottom of the pyramid - drops to six lanes, then four, then two, then becomes a country road and eventually a dirt path, before abruptly coming to a stop. Thousands of drivers start off on the highway, but as it narrows more and more are forced to slow and stop. There are smash-ups and cars are pushed off on to the shoulder. Some drivers give up and take side roads to other destinations. A few - the most aggressive - keep charging ahead, swerving and accelerating and bending fenders all about them. Remember, objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
Extracted from Maverick, by Ricardo Semler. A book that shatters a lot of conventional thinking about an organization. In case you think it to be a rant, look him up. Ricardo Semler grew Semco Brazil by 30-40% per year for two decades to well over $200M in revenues by 2005 by being - well - an unconventional maverick. And yes - he thinks a circle is better than a pyramid :-).
Review to follow....
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