WHEN SENSE IS NOT COMMON - ALTERNATIVES TO HIERARCHY AT WORK

Alternative, non-hierarchical working arrangements often 'degenerate' over time into ordinary hierarchies. The argument is often made that t his degeneration proves that hierarchy is superior as an organizationa l form. This paper argues instead that one reason for such phenomena i s the very ordinariness of hierarchy at work, its commonsense characte r. Members of a work setting construct common sense situationally, and do so with taken-for-granted assumptions of hierarchy-as-normal. Thus , they achieve a hierarchy without trying. New 'forms' of common sense are required for the viability of non-hierarchical working arrangemen ts.