Who's in charge
The industrial revolution created jobs which created hierarchies which created status which created BMWs, Rolexs and office chairs with arms.
I'm not saying that we can live without hierarchy, because most wild animals that live in a society have a hierarchy with a dominant animal and then an order of command. I guess herds like cows and sheep don't have this structure, and look where that got them.
Anyway, I believe that knowing who is in charge is necessary for our survival, so that in a time of crisis we act uniformly and with common purpose.
Maybe what the industrial revolution did was to make 'who is in charge' synonymous with 'who is important'.
Within excellerate, and within excellerate project teams, there is someone who is 'in charge' but equally, no one person is more important than any other. Symbols of status and job titles are irrelevant.
A team, and the organisation as a whole, therefore is able to act consistently and purposefully without getting bogged down in rules that only exist to protect the hierarchy, such as which job grade is allowed a chair with arms.
The first company I worked in had an engineer's grade of District Engineer and a supervisor's grade of Section Engineer. In one ropey hotel near our head office, the rooms had black and white TVs that had been specially modified with a plug in the back. If a DE stayed in the room, the plug was removed so the TV didn't work. If a SE stayed in the room, he could watch the TV because his grade allowed it.
I suppose that, on the face of it, the people who create the hierarchy have to protect it by having visible signs of status - a better car, an office with windows, a chair with arms, a room with a TV. Perhaps there is another explanation - the DEs never invited the SEs to go out to the pub with them, so all they could do was stay in and watch TV...
I'm not saying that we can live without hierarchy, because most wild animals that live in a society have a hierarchy with a dominant animal and then an order of command. I guess herds like cows and sheep don't have this structure, and look where that got them.
Anyway, I believe that knowing who is in charge is necessary for our survival, so that in a time of crisis we act uniformly and with common purpose.
Maybe what the industrial revolution did was to make 'who is in charge' synonymous with 'who is important'.
Within excellerate, and within excellerate project teams, there is someone who is 'in charge' but equally, no one person is more important than any other. Symbols of status and job titles are irrelevant.
A team, and the organisation as a whole, therefore is able to act consistently and purposefully without getting bogged down in rules that only exist to protect the hierarchy, such as which job grade is allowed a chair with arms.
The first company I worked in had an engineer's grade of District Engineer and a supervisor's grade of Section Engineer. In one ropey hotel near our head office, the rooms had black and white TVs that had been specially modified with a plug in the back. If a DE stayed in the room, the plug was removed so the TV didn't work. If a SE stayed in the room, he could watch the TV because his grade allowed it.
I suppose that, on the face of it, the people who create the hierarchy have to protect it by having visible signs of status - a better car, an office with windows, a chair with arms, a room with a TV. Perhaps there is another explanation - the DEs never invited the SEs to go out to the pub with them, so all they could do was stay in and watch TV...
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