The Pressure Test · Episode 6
Why Flatter Companies Are Creating Hidden Chaos
Get rid of the hierarchy and you get rid of the friction - that's the pitch behind flat structures and the death of the org chart. Instead, plenty of "flat" companies have just made the hierarchy invisible: influence and pressure still flow somewhere, just without a title attached to absorb it. Paul argues structure is what protects people from chaos, not what causes it. Kemina argues the nervous system reads ambiguity as threat regardless of what the org chart says - and an invisible hierarchy is often more dysregulating than an honest one. Who's actually holding the pressure when nobody's officially in charge of it?
About the show
The Pressure Test is a leadership podcast hosted by Paul Lyons and Kemina Fulwood. Mental toughness meets nervous system coherence in conversations about leadership, pressure and being human.