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Saturday
Mar282009

Hierarchy is a Prosthesis for Trust ... 

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.. in the words of Warren Bennis, a well-known author and consultant on leadership issues.

If this is the case (and I think it is .. most people either want someone to "fix" the problems they face, or else feel relatively helpless to have impact on the large structural issues of our society) then in this era of flagrant self-dealing self-interest perhaps there is a need to change the old wooden leg for new technology that is more flexible and responsive, to enable new habits.

We are (most of us, anyway) living in an increasingly networked world wherein we operate much more horizontally, or are just beginning to do so ... the interlinked environment is still new, and we have much to learn and practice.  We are increasingly using attraction and negotiation to arrive at what needs doing, by whom, for when and with what.

Many (but certainly not all) areas of economic and societal activity still operate with traditional hierarchy, and more and more often the trust it offered or symbolised is being betrayed in order to serve the interests of those who hold the power.  History suggests that 1) it has ever been thus, but / and that 2) when practiced to excess, dire consequences eventuate.

I think it would be lamentable in the extreme if it takes thousands of tent cities and people dying for lack of health care to bring about the necessary reforms to a now-clearly-predatory financial system.

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