The most successful "flat" organizations I've encountered weren't actually flat. Someone was making decisions. Someone was absorbing pressure. Someone was the de facto leader — without the title, without the accountability, and without the legitimate authority that would have made the whole thing transparent and fair.
Hierarchy Is a Contract, Not Oppression
Why people instinctively seek strong leaders, why managers avoid building hierarchy, and what happens when there’s no formal structure — the tyranny of structurelessness.