Insights from Get Better at Flatter: A Guide to Shaping and Leading Organizations with Less Hierarchy
Years ago, I found myself in a team where decision-making felt chaotic. There were no managers, just “owners” of tasks and projects. It felt empowering until it didn’t. Deadlines slipped, no one seemed accountable, and team members quietly longed for someone to just decide. That experience made me curious: is flat really better?
That’s what drew me to Markus Reitzig’s Get Better at Flatter. This book isn’t another feel-good endorsement of boss-less organizations. Instead, it’s a science-based, experience-driven guide on how and when flat structures work and when they don’t. Reitzig gives leaders a realistic, actionable framework for shaping less hierarchical organizations that can actually deliver results.
Whether you’re scaling a startup or transforming a legacy enterprise, this book teaches how to delegate smarter, empower responsibly, and design the right structure for your specific goals.
Summary
Part I: Why Flat Structures Work at All
Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Move Toward a “Flatter” Structure?
This chapter defines flat structures as organizations with fewer management layers and more distributed decision-making. Reitzig cautions against romanticizing flatness and emphasizes the need for “compensatory decentralization” to avoid overloading the remaining managers.
“Flattening an organization’s structure...always includes the challenge of decentralizing!” (p. 14)
Chapter 2: When Do Flatter Structures Make Sense?
Reitzig outlines when flatter organizations outperform hierarchical ones specifically when complex, creative work is involved and coordination can be distributed. He introduces the concept of “organizational complementarity,” where structure, people, and systems must align.
Part II: When Flattening Fails
Chapter 3: Why So Many Organizations Fail at Flattening
Failure often stems from flawed implementation. Companies remove layers without replacing their function. Reitzig illustrates how poor delegation, role confusion, or lack of team training causes organizational collapse.
Chapter 4: The Fatal Assumption
Many assume employees naturally step up when managers leave. Reitzig dismantles this myth and emphasizes the need to prepare and incentivize employees for broader roles. Simply hoping people will “figure it out” is a recipe for dysfunction.
Part III: Designing the Right Structure
Chapter 5: Structure Isn’t Everything but It’s Not Nothing
This chapter argues that while culture matters, structure strongly influences behavior. Reitzig critiques the “culture-only” approach to org design and provides a balanced view: structure sets boundaries, culture drives behaviors within them.
Chapter 6: Aligning Structure with Strategy
Reitzig explains how structure should serve a company’s strategic goals. For example, if innovation is key, a flatter structure may help. But if operational efficiency is paramount, hierarchy might work better. He provides real-world case comparisons, like Reaktor vs. Wistia.
Part IV: Executing the Transition
Chapter 7: Mapping Out the Journey
This chapter details how to move from traditional to flatter structures. It includes an implementation roadmap: start with a pilot, identify champions, define clear decision rights, and communicate relentlessly.
Chapter 8: Choosing the Right Teams
Teams are the basic unit of flatter organizations. Reitzig outlines how to build effective teams, select capable members, and ensure they have clear autonomy with accountability. He warns against throwing people into self-managed roles without training.
Chapter 9: Building New Roles and Rules
Here Reitzig describes how new roles like team coordinators or role-based leadership can replace traditional hierarchy. Rules around decision-making, conflict resolution, and escalation must be made explicit to prevent chaos.
Part V: Sustaining and Evolving Flatness
Chapter 10: Learning from the Best
Reitzig shares lessons from successful flatter firms. Common threads include continuous role evolution, open communication, transparency in performance, and adaptability in structure. Leaders still exist but lead differently.
Chapter 11: Monitoring and Adapting
Sustaining flatness requires periodic review. Reitzig introduces diagnostic tools to assess coordination health, employee satisfaction, and performance outcomes. He advocates for iterative refinement over static design.
Chapter 12: Don’t Get Dogmatic
The final chapter is a call for pragmatism. Reitzig warns against “flatness for flatness’ sake.” Instead, he encourages leaders to embrace a flexible mindset: keep what works, discard what doesn’t, and adapt based on evidence, not ideology.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaway 1: Flatness Is a Design Challenge, Not a Moral Good
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Explanation: Flat organizations are not inherently better. Their success depends on alignment between structure, people, and goals.
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Personal Reflection: This challenges the startup dogma I’ve often heard. Reitzig helped me understand that “flat” is not a virtue it’s a tool, and one that can backfire if misused.
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Quote: “Flat structures can be very powerful and potentially superior to hierarchical firms under certain conditions.” Markus Reitzig
Key Takeaway 2: Delegation Isn’t Optional. It’s Foundational
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Explanation: Flattening only works if employees take over key managerial functions. Otherwise, decision bottlenecks and confusion ensue.
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Personal Reflection: I’ve seen teams flounder because leadership refused to give up real authority. This book makes it clear that empowerment must be genuine.
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Quote: “In essence, they must take over some of the managerial functions formerly executed by the manager; otherwise, the organization will become unstable.” Markus Reitzig
Key Takeaway 3: Context Is Everything
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Explanation: What works for Reaktor may not work for Wistia. The industry, team size, and organizational history all shape what “flat” should look like.
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Personal Reflection: Reitzig’s use of contrasting case studies reminded me to avoid copy-paste strategies. Even similar companies had vastly different results.
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Quote: “The explanation for why moving to a flatter structure eventually works in one instance but not in another is...not just a simple story of industry affiliation or corporate size.” Markus Reitzig
Key Takeaway 4: Teams Need Rules, Not Just Freedom
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Explanation: Freedom without structure leads to dysfunction. Flat teams need clear roles, norms, and conflict-resolution pathways.
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Personal Reflection: I’ve experienced this firsthand in teams where “self-managed” meant “no direction.” This insight emphasizes that autonomy and clarity must go hand in hand.
Key Takeaway 5: Don’t Be a Flatness Fundamentalist
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Explanation: Reitzig stresses flexibility over ideology. The best orgs evolve continuously and blend structure types based on real-world feedback.
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Personal Reflection: This takeaway reminded me not to romanticize structure. What matters most is what helps people do their best work.
Personal Reflections
Reading Get Better at Flatter reshaped how I think about org design. I used to believe flatness was synonymous with empowerment and trust. Now I understand it’s a spectrum not a destination and one that demands real effort and thought. Reitzig’s framework equips teams and leaders with tools to think clearly about what they’re trying to build. It’s not about copying Valve or Zappos. It’s about creating the right fit for your strategy, people, and goals.
Conclusion
Reitzig’s Get Better at Flatter is a thoughtful, evidence-based guide to rethinking how we organize work. It cuts through the hype around flat structures and gives leaders a toolkit to do it right or to know when not to do it at all. If you’re considering a delayering initiative or already deep in one, this book will save you time, pain, and possibly failure.
Ultimately, this book is not anti-hierarchy or pro-flatness. It’s pro-reason. And in a world full of management fads, that’s refreshingly rare.