Hierarchy is not only there for &#x27;telling X to do ABC&#x27;, but also to make clear who takes responsibility. If there&#x27;s no leader, who&#x27;s responsible for decisions taken? A random person who happens to be in a team who did something which turned out to be very stupid? All of them? No one? When a decision is made by X, the people who execute it didn&#x27;t decide on it, X did, which means X takes responsibility, not the people who execute the decision.<p>Another aspect which is overlooked in the article is: to get things done, you have to make unpopular decisions sometimes: i.e. cut features to make a deadline, to ship a version, to stop adding stuff and work towards a release. No-one wants to make those, they&#x27;re called &#x27;unpopular&#x27; for a reason. But you have to make them to avoid a state where things aren&#x27;t ready and never will be. There&#x27;s a difference between &#x27;being able to ship&#x27; and &#x27;being able to ship a usable product&#x27;.<p>Funny that they refer to Valve with the text:<p>&gt; At the video-game maker Valve, new employees are told not to expect instructions, because even the managing director “isn’t your manager,” says the employee handbook. “You have the power to green-light projects. You have the power to ship products.” And so they do.<p>I&#x27;d like to mention &#x27;Half Life 3&#x27;. ;)