Hierarchies, within Hierarchies, within Hierarchies......

No matter what we do or where we go there are hierarchies. It is impossible to escape them. Even monkeys develop hierarchical societies! So we all have to learn to be part of the various kinds of hierarchies we move around in daily.

We construct hierarchies in order to give some structure and leadership to our lives. So a hierarchy is basically an arrangement where things or people are put into higher and lower levels. It may sound strange today, but according to some, the word was used originally to categorize a pyramid of angels (the 'divine helpers' and not the baseball team!) Angels and spirits have a very long history. Perhaps today we can think of them as a sort of Avatar.

And what is always found in ranking hierarchies are various levels of power, that is superiors and subordinates. As Pterano said in The Land Before Time, "Some of us are born to lead, while the rest of you must follow." This type of hierarchy works well in the family situation because children are into a long period of dependence. They need to be taught by their parents (supervisors) how to get along with one another and in society. 

Often we find the superiors in many of our hierarchies, (I prefer to call them supervisors) put too much emphasis on the 'power' side of things and in so doing hobble the actions of their followers. All decisions are unilateral. Even the army has moved a bit from this position!  I like to think, at least in adult hierarchies, there needs to be more respect and compromise between all the members of the group. In other words, the 'power' has to do with the management of the organization, but it does not bestow on the leaders the right to rule the roost. Socially, are we not all equal or is our democracy really a sham? In the post-secondary institutions where I worked most of my life I felt there existed a huge divide between the management, the professors, the support staff and the students. One of my supervisors would call my office every Friday afternoon at 5pm! Were we not all responsible for the well being and success of the students? Was this not our common ground? Did not each level in the hierarchy provide their special skills and talents to that end? Although I must confess I never heard it said, but I often felt that some in one group, those on the upper level of the pyramid, looked down on those below! Although our skills were very different and our contributions varied, we all supposedly had that one common concern - the success of our students.

Some modern companies are beginning to break away from the traditional hierarchy and to provide an environment where the followers are capable of self-governing behaviour. The graduate student Annika Steiber, in her research of the Google organization, pointed out that the status of individuals there was very strong. While a  Googley is expected to perform in accordance with the company values: a passion to change the world through the Internet, being smart, and not political, more power is left to the individuals to be creative and self motivated. This leads to a feeling of being valued and respected by the company. Sharing the power and respecting the individuals on a social level has no doubt enabled Google to become one of the most successful companies of our time.

On the everyday level of our lives we meet others who can be very difficult and sometimes it is next to impossible to respect them or be their friend. On the other hand, learning to get along with the majority not only enhances our own life, but builds the spirit of the whole organization. And that is well worth the effort.

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week