Evidently, I feel about hierarchy the same way that Karen Davis feels about adult supervision.

In her post An End to Adult Supervision, she says,

Saying someone needs “adult supervision” is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  It assumes younger founders don’t know or want to know what they’re doing.  It implies they’re unable or unwilling to act responsibly.  And, taken to the extreme, it exonerates reckless, immature, or bad behavior, pushing accountability unfairly onto the “adult” in the room for not keeping founders appropriately in check.

My version would be,

Saying someone needs supervision is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It assumes people don’t know or want to know what they’re doing. It implies they’re unable or unwilling to act responsibly. And, taken to the extreme, it exonerates reckless, immature, or bad behavior, pushing accountability unfairly onto the manager in the room for not keeping their people appropriately in check.

Thanks to Karen Roter Davis, General Manager of Urban Engines, for writing a very eloquent and needed post Read it.