Despite research that suggests the many benefits of autonomous work environments and leadership styles to both wellbeing and performance, most workplaces are built on the bureaucratic principles of standardization, specialization, stratification, formalization, and routinization.
Developed from a desire to carry out complex tasks with optimal efficiency, bureaucracy prioritises productivity over creativity, regulation over invention, and control over autonomy. In this kind of structure, power trickles down through layers of management, innovation is stifled, and decision rights are largely determined by your position on the many tiers of the organisation chart. Accountability is lost in the complexity of reporting lines and drag of bureaucracy seen in inertia, stagnation, and disempowerment.