Author: DesignThinkers Spain

The idea of hierarchy is probably one of oldest and strange mindsets in our society.

Until now, most human relationships have established a superior/inferior parameter to be able to relate. But it is all fake. Just an illusion in our minds. There is no possible superiority.

Most companies and government institutions have of course, followed this type of structure in order to organize tasks and responsibilities and keep the business running, Without thinking twice, they replicated  social hierarchies where VP, directors and bosses were seen as a mix of semi-gods, dictators and landlords.

In these company structures as in society, we assume those in positions of power are superior and those in other positions are not and that´s how we see and think about ourselves when we cross the office door. But again… it is not true.

Bosses are just regular mortals with more responsibility and not always more talent than any other one in the cubicles. These power roles and protocols somehow block our creativity and efficiency and do nothing else but complicate processes, tasks and worse of all solutions. Good bosses surround themselves with people who are better than them they say; So they know they can rely on them to keep and improve their position. This position turns them into group leaders instead of bosses, mentors instead of superiors.

It all comes from the wrong idea of human beings a superior species over animals and all other living organisms. Selfishness? Ignorance? lack of connection with rest of the living beings? who knows, what we have really realized is that most things work better in collaborative teams with rotating leaders and organized responsibilities. Like in the old days when some where in the hunt, others own the fire and others building shelter or growing crops in order to survive.

If we look at world with fear, we will see a permanent fight for dominance and submission. A game of kill or be killed, predator and prey, then we have a world structured under de idea of superiority and hierarchy.

But…what if we take a look beyond that and we look at all systems as a connected interdependent chain of vital elements, where all affect each other and nothing is superior? We may understand how relevance is truly circumstantial.

Who is more powerful when the work needs to be done and delivery has to be made at work? absolutely none. One falls all fall. Teambuilding has become the key to unfold not only social dynamics and break the ice between coworkers but to understand the specific systems conformed by individual people with assigned responsibility and particular skills.

Nobody is good for everything and not everyone is good in groups so looking deeply into each element of the system, the role they play and the context they inhabit makes a special combination happen to succeed or just fail repeatedly.

The invention of gods

Masculine power, race background, physical strength, beauty,  ability to fool others are all just skills and attributed that may be useful sometimes but not always. None wins it all and everyone has a weakness but our imagination and mostly our fear keep us from expanding and interacting in a more horizontal way. Gods were invented to make us dependant and submissive to some ultra-human power. God and kings and Bosses and not less human and fragile than everyone else. Those who suddenly recognize their value, talents and skills become gods, rulers of their own destiny and life. Those who don´t see their bosses as superiors.

Bosses and governance

A great team is the key when we are talking about productivity and innovation but even more definitive when we talk about governance. Leaders today don´t exist because of their title or their power, they survive because of their team, their followers and all those that support them: their team.

Teams work they way they can and rules and responsibilities are set as invisible agreements that are confirmed in a daily basis. So setting a methodology and assessing them can help them find the right sport to articulate each other and work like a swiss watch. It wont take a workshop or a session. As any long-term relationship it takes approaches and agreements and discussions and forgiveness and acceptance.

At Designthinkers Group Spain we have created a set of methods and work sessions to improve your team´s communiation, productivity and most of all enjoyability. Ask us about team work methodologies and work sessions so we can make your team a happy team.