13.6 Create an organizational chart to look like a pyramid, with straight lines down that don’t cross.
The whole organization should look like a series of descending pyramids, but the number of layers should be limited to minimize hierarchy.
a. Involve the person who is the point of the pyramid when encountering cross-departmental or cross-sub-departmental issues.
Imagine an organizational chart as a pyramid that consists of numberous pyramids.
When issues involve parties not in the same part of the pyramid, it is generally desirable to involve the person who is at the point of the pyramid, and thus has the perspective and knowledge to weigh the trade-offs and make informed decisions.
b. Don’t do work for people in another department or grab people from another department to do work for you unless you speak to the person responsible for overseeing the other department.
If there is a dispute about this, it needs to be resolved at the point of the pyramid.
c. Watch out for “department slip.”
This happens when a support department mistakes its responsibility to provide support with a mandate to determine how the thing they are supporting should be done. An example of this sort of mistake would be if the facilities group thought it should determine what facilites we should have. While support departments should know the goals of the people they’re supporting and provide feedback regarding possible choices, they are not the ones to determine the vision.
* Source: Principles by Ray Dalio