Bulldozer00's Blog

If you read Sam Culbert’s book rant against the taken-for-granted and unassailable “annual performance review” process, you’d think he is an anti-hierarchy revolutionary deserving to be crushed. But the dude is not:

Hierarchical structure, in the form of an organization chart, serves many constructive purposes. By showing the chain of command, it allows everyone to see who is responsible for what, how organization units are being deployed, and, most importantly, who should be accountable for bottom-line results. In contrast, I can’t think of a single constructive purpose served by hierarchical relationships— that is, those in which the boss gets to dominate all conversations.

Culbert, Samuel A. (2010-04-01). Get Rid of the Performance Review!: How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing–and Focus on What Really Matters (Business Plus) (pp. 128-129). Hachette Book Group. Kindle Edition.  – Sam Culbert

In a man-made conceptual hierarchical breakdown of a tree’s “parts“, the relationships between the parts have nothing to do whatsoever with their “position” in the hierarchy. A tree’s components miraculously work together in synchronous harmony to manifest and share its beauty as a whole with all of nature – including us (perhaps undeserving) humans. Leaves aren’t pitted against leaves for the purpose of gaining more hierarchical status in the “minds” of the other tree parts. The trunk doesn’t perceive itself as “more important and deserving” than the “lowly” branches. The roots don’t talk about the topmost branches in a derogatory manner, nor vice versa.

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