The Invisible Chains of the ‘No-Manager’ Office
The email from David, our designated ‘team lead’ – a title we were all explicitly told meant nothing more than glorified coordinator – landed with a familiar thud in my inbox. Subject: “Quick question about Saturday coverage.” My stomach clenched. It wasn’t a question. It was a politely worded directive, wrapped in the thin tissue of ‘collaboration.’ My plans for the weekend, specifically a quiet morning attempting to mend the ceramic shards of my favorite mug, crumbled further. I knew, with the kind of certainty that only comes from navigating these supposedly leaderless waters for 9 months, that saying no wasn’t an option. But more profoundly, I knew that if I *did* say no, there wasn’t a clear, formal path to push back, or anyone truly accountable to listen to my refusal beyond David himself, who would simply then pass on the displeasure from a higher, unseen power.
The Allure and Illusion of Flatness
We all bought into the dream, didn’t we? The promise of the flat hierarchy was intoxicating: autonomy, self-organizing teams, an end to stifling bureaucracy, a workplace where ideas blossomed free from top-down dictates. It sounded like liberation. For the first few weeks, it even felt like it. Everyone was empowered! Everyone had a voice! But then the uncomfortable reality began to set in. You see, getting rid of titles doesn’t get rid of power. It just makes the power structures invisible, like some dark matter of corporate gravity, and



























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