Here’s an article worth reading regarding the danger of overly hierarchical cultures, and how they can inhibit voice.
The article cites a presentation by Lindred Greer, an organizational behavior professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She states that hierarchy is natural, as people often look for one person to lead them, and stems from pre-historic times when hunters required clear direction from a leader to coordinate the hunt of larger or faster animals.
Community, economic, and building development projects require a great deal more expertise than prehistoric hunting, and the hierarchy can easily fail when it attempts to coordinate the efforts of dozens of experts. These efforts need to be self-coordinating. This requires a not only a new type of leadership but also a new type of expert, willing and able to constructively assert themselves as needed by the work rather than wait for direction.
