LADDER
// LATTICE
In
most workplaces opportunity exists on a ladder, not on a lattice. While the
ladder, in the corporate structure, shows you the path to the leader at the top,
the lattice is a crisscrossing structure like checker board that offers
multiple paths to the top.
The
lattice system rejects two unwritten rules that dominate ladder hierarchies –
don’t go behind your boss’s back or above your boss’s head. These implicit
rules often stop many people from speaking up and being heard. It removes the
threat of punishment for going around and above the boss.
In
the Ladder system a single ‘no’ is enough to kill an idea or even a career.
Managers
often say no because your idea might be a threat to their ego – if it’s good --
or their image if it’s bad. The tide is invariably turned against the one who
comes up with a creative suggestion.
It
happens like that because unproven ideas carry too much risk and uncertainty.
Managers
know that if they bet on a bad idea, it might be a career limiting move, but if
they ignore a good idea, it’s unlikely anyone will ever find out.
And
even if managers are supportive of an idea, if they perceive leaders above them
would not like it, they tend to see it as a losing proposition.
All
it takes is just one gatekeeper to shut out a new frontier
‘Hidden Potential’
Adam Grant

