The typical organization is hierarchical, with workers answering to a manager, and that manager answering to… — Clay Shirky
The typical organization is hierarchical, with workers answering to a manager, and that manager answering to a still-higher manager, and so on. The value of such hierarchies is obvious-it vastly simplifies communication among the employees. New employees need only one connection, to their boss, to get started. That's much simpler than trying to have everyone talk to everyone.
p. 29Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
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p. 29

