Hierarchy is B.S.!!

It is utmost appalling the way we embrace the concept of Leadership and Management. The human society since the oldest of the times shows extensive employ of this concept. Everything is hierarchical, however much you try to stay away from it. People always have bosses, as if that is the only way to ‘get things done’. Higher salaries, employment perks and special parking spots to name a few, are nothing but the most rudimentary proofs, that all the progress human beings claim to have made, about equality, anti-discriminatory laws and all of that is a big bucket full of B.S. It is an insult to the sub-ordinate’s intellect to call him a sub-ordinate. It’s not like a CEO can do a programmer’s or floor-worker’s job as effectively, then why the sudden hype and the inevitable ‘big deal’? People will do what they are best at doing. Their intellects cannot be compared, because there is no reliable “conversion factor” or a universal scale to measure these different dimensions of acumen.


I was hearing a sermon from a popular rabbi recently. Not that I am Jewish or that I have any specific interest in any one religion, but it was one of those can’t-look-away-after-you-heard-the-first-line speeches. The Rabbi had a real knack for capturing listener's attention. One thing I noticed that is relevant to this topic is that, religion tells you to not judge anyone before you put yourself in their shoes. Then how can we call one person greater than the other, and seek comfort in a web of misapprehensions. What's worse is to aspire to climb the ladder and become someone one day who looks down on his nose at a bunch of dimwitted "believers".


I say, "You got something to say, say it! I will think over it and let you know. Don’t tell me you are greater than me because you are the CEO of my company or the owner of Microsoft…". Why is it important to me, if you can do your job well? and how do you know that I cannot do mine better than you can do yours? I can most certainly run faster than Gandhiji and probably lift more weights than Einstein. So I suppose I am greater than Gandhiji and Einstein in some aspects. I say in any specific example, it really depends on what we are comparing? It gives me the creeps when someone pulls a rank and makes that a way of life, a way to get by, because nobody gives a crap if it isn't for the rank.


People seek safety, leaders promise safety (or an idea of safety) in many different shapes. You follow a leader because you think he\she is going to lead you to a place that is better for you. Once you admit that this is it for you, that you cannot think for your own and might as well follow someone who makes an attempt to, following a leader is not an absolutely bad thing. But almost always, human nature's ass end will make an appearance sooner or later. Just because people follow you or respect you, you will start taking things for granted. Other people's feelings will bear less and less importance for you.


Please don't mistake me for venting, but this is a plague, an epidemic that is affecting the entire corporate world. Bureaucracy is a thing of the past. Red tapism should be punishable by law. This is a major cause for loss of morale.

-Sridhar Nallani