A key thesis behind the flattening of tech organizations was outlined in Jack Dorsey’s From Hierarchy to Intelligence manifesto.
Dorsey argues that a key purpose of middle management is to relay information between employees and executives. AI can increasingly do this, reducing the need for managers.
This was controversial when Block laid off 40% of its workforce but it’s now becoming conventional wisdom among executives.
@carnage4life
We saw flattening too, even before I left. Presumably for similar reasons, however in the conversations I was a part of, it was explicitly revenue overhead driven.
Two devastating mistakes I saw (which repeated in this example):
1. Managers do not own comms. Your structure is wrong and broken if your relying on this.
2. What managers actually do is coaching. Usually career coaching, to get the best productivity from their teams, but can often be life coaching.
1/2