Harold,

Brilliant post. These systems are broken and have been for some time...yet the magnetic pull of the hierarchy, as you note, is powerful and the hierarchy, in my opinion, ultimately serves to maintain its own existence. Many talented people wither in these systems ...either becoming disengaged and simply accepting, rebelling and being discharged, or joining the ranks and serving to maintain the system. Good employees suffer under the weight of these structures; ultimately criticized and marginalized yet the power structure and system it condones continues unscathed. However I'm an optimist and believe that Wirearchy's will work to deonstruct hierarchies morphing them into "ephemeral meritocracies" (HT Euan Semple).