One of my favorite books growing up was King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. Without getting too deep into the storyline, a cool concept that I have revisited is the idea of a roundtable. In the story, no knight had precedence, or was considered better than another man. The most famous and accomplished knights had the same seat as others.
Why am I writing about a fictional table? Great question.
The roundtable concept is far more effective in the modern company structure than a system of hierarchy. For a couple of reasons
Creativity over competition: Hierarchy breeds internal competition. People can become more focused on proving themselves to be superior to others; who have more status or authority. At the end of the day, adding value is the true goal, and anybody can do it on any given day.
Future Focused: Status handicaps us. Do not allow the members of your organization to rest on their past accomplishments. Everyday comes with a different and new challenge.
Team Full of Bosses: Everybody on your team should see themselves as a leader in their area of expertise. People never reach their full potential if they keep themselves small. No, you don’t need a bunch of hard-headed people in the meeting room. You do need free-thinkers. People with the initiative and confidence to pursue being great at whatever they do. That goes beyond being smart in a specific field.
