Flatten Your Organization A Little Bit At A Time? No!

I have been discussing growth plans with a client I am working with. The business has two owners, one handling sales, the other handling operations and finances, and they are having difficulty expanding. One of the problems they are confronting is that their organization is pyramidal in structure. The senior, more experienced, controlling owner needs to be part of every decision. He is willing to share responsibility with his younger partner but that means each is weighing-in on and responsible for the same matters. They just make decisions and work on issues together.

The senior partner read my blog posts regarding pyramid management vs. flat management and determined that this is what was lacking in his organization, preventing more rapid expansion, and he decided he wanted to flatten his organization out. He called me to discuss this. We met and outlined how to flatten the organization, which requires a clear definition of the keys to success: each owner’s area of authority and responsibilities, the lines of communication, how each owner will be held accountable for reaching goals, and how success is quantified and measured. He was excited and we agreed to meet the next day to discuss the new plan with his partner.

When we got to the meeting, he began to hedge, “Let’s do it a little bit at a time,” he said. “Let’s get used to it. It is not what I naturally do so I need to take one step at a time. Why do we have to plunge in all at once? Let’s go slowly.”

My response was, “OK, we can run this pyramid successfully, we do not have to flatten.” This aggravated him because he wanted to flatten a little bit at a time, not go back to a pyramid structure. He was frustrated with my all or nothing response.

I tried to explain that this is one of those times when you are either in or out. Do it or don’t, a little flat is not flat at all. Flat management requires an attitude adjustment and a commitment to a different form of management, one that requires control of the ego. “A little at a time” does not work because it does not give you the results you are looking for, results that can be achieved only when flat is flat. How can one partially allocate responsibility? It is then impossible to hold him accountable as he is only partially responsible. Thus, the organization is not flat at all, but still controlled by a pyramid management style. “A little bit” does not work.

That didn’t sit well with him so we are doing it incrementally. Although, we are really doing it all and just letting him get used to it by thinking it is a one-step-at-a-time process. But think about it… how does one partially allocate responsibility? That’s not allocating responsibility at all.

Leap! It will not be fatal, even if you make some mistakes. Flat works best.