1st Edition

The Unavoidable Hierarchy Who's who in your organization and why

By Michael Hatfield Copyright 2016

    The Unavoidable Hierarchy provides an analysis of why, in virtually every organization, members advance or decline in standing for reasons that have little or nothing to do with their merit. Michael Hatfield explains how this dynamic can be observed and analyzed, and insights gleaned from the analysis.

    With organizations struggling to meet the aspirations of their employees; ill-equipped or patently inappropriate individuals failing in executive posts and need for businesses to be at the top of their game, The Unavoidable Hierarchy is a timely and important book for all managers, particularly those concerned with the human dynamics of the business.

    Michael Hatfield draws on advancements in Game Theory, Network Theory, Organizational Behavior and Performance Management concepts to capture and evaluate the (previously unarticulated) influencing factors behind the game of corporate snakes and ladders. The resulting analysis will help you identify how these factors manifest as strategies and tactics within the organization, meaning that effective countermeasures can be derived from such an analysis.

    Whilst these factors are likely to remain ubiquitous, the author’s focus includes ideas and strategies for mitigating their impact and making changes at the level of both the individual and the organization.

    Introduction Chapter 1: Everybody Wants to Rule the World Chapter 2: Where We’re Coming From Chapter 3: Where We’ve Been Chapter 4: Why We’re Headed There: It’s All In The Game Chapter 5: Instructional Voyeurism Chapter 6: The Unavoidable Hierarchy Chapter 7: On Organizational Narratives – the Stories We Know, the Secrets We Keep Chapter 8: Preparing to Play the Ranking Game Chapter 9: Playing the Ranking Game Chapter 10: Tearing Down the Organization Chapter 11: Preventing the Group’s Destruction Chapter 12: The Stories of Our Lives Chapter 13: The Stories of Others’ Lives Chapter 14: Implications for Management and Leadership Conclusion Appendix A: List of Hierarchical Strategies Addressed in the Book

    Biography

    Michael Hatfield, PMP, CCC, EVM, is probably best known as the author of the long running column in PMNetwork magazine, Variance Threshold. Besides PMNetwork, his work has appeared in the Project Management Journal, Cost Engineering, Gantthead, People on Projects, The Measurable News, and even in the Nuclear Weapons Journal. He is the author of Things Your PMO Is Doing Wrong (PMI Publishing, 2008) and Game Theory in Management (2012). He has worked as an entry-level technician for the Air Force Weapons Laboratory's Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) test sites, as the director of a National Laboratory's Project Management Office overseeing a budget of $1.3 Billion (USD), and many very interesting jobs in-between.