Is Middle Management the secret to success?

There’s been a lot of talk about “flattening the hierarchy.”
Translation: We just fired middle management and called it strategy.

Apparently, the new recipe for success is to axe the people who glue everything together, call it a “lean operating model,” and hand out burnout as a bonus perk.

I get it, managers are expensive. And let’s be honest, some have no business being in charge of a group chat, let alone people.
But I’d suggest:

Middle management isn’t the problem. Bad management is.

And instead of fixing it, we’re binning the whole thing.

So now ICs are translating corporate speak, mediating conflict, coordinating cross-functional chaos, and still trying to do their actual jobs.
Without training. Without authority. Without remuneration.

Meanwhile, the managers who weren’t fired?

They’re in for a wild ride carrying double the load, trying to support the fried ICs and wondering if they should dust off their CVs.

Senior leaders are so far removed from reality, they need Google Maps to find the execution layer.

But hey, at least the org chart looks tidy now, right?

I suggest you should think about this:

• Gallup says managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement.
  
  

• Poor management leads to attrition, poor performance, and low morale.
  
  

• No middle layer = no one developing your future leaders.
  
  

You’re not flattening your org. You’re flatlining your future.

So go on. Cut middle management. Slash the very people who make strategy real and culture sustainable.

I’ll be here, popcorn in hand, waiting for the inevitable research papers titled:

“Why That Company Imploded: A Cautionary Tale of Firing Everyone Between the CEO and the Intern.”

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