Let me count the ways - but for now a short primer ….

Wrong - In What They Are

• A static snapshot in a dynamic system - Org charts freeze people in place, in a world that’s fluid, adaptive, and always in motion.

• An illusion of control - They suggest neat lines of authority, when actual influence flows in networks, whispers, and Slack threads.

• A power fantasy - Designed more to reassure executives than to reflect how things really work on the ground.

Wrong - In How They Are

• Too hierarchical, too linear - Most charts resemble military command structures in an age that demands collaboration and cross-functionality.

• Built top-down, not inside-out - They reflect formal reporting lines, not value creation, lived relationships, or trust pathways.

• Exclusionary by design - Contractors, advisors, ecosystem partners, AI tools? Nowhere to be seen, yet often critical to delivery.

Wrong - In the Information They Contain

• Titles ≠ capability - Job labels are vague proxies. They reveal little about what someone is great at, trusted for, or actually doing.

• Missing the real flows - No view of how decisions are made, who connects teams, or where knowledge is hoarded vs. shared.

• Performance blind - They say nothing about value contribution, outcomes, energy, or momentum.

Wrong - In How Work Is Understood

• They reduce people to boxes - And forget that work is a web of conversations, motivations, tensions, experiments, and progress.

• Ignore emergence and adaptability - Real work happens across silos, shaped by informal leaders, not always those in bold font.

• Reinforce outdated logic - Built for predictability and scale, when today’s work is about learning, iterating, and adjusting on the fly.

To understand how the fractalisation of work (doesn’t) work - consider ‘the taxi’, the definition of which is in the process of being redefined as a personalised vehicle that will take you for a to b.

That continues - BUT … it also used to be a place for …

• Human conversation - spontaneously - about local gossip, life advice, or even silence. And all without algorithmsmonitoring sentiment.

• A helping hand, someone who’d load your luggage, not because it was required, but because that’s what people do.

• Navigation expertise by someone who knows the backstreets better than GPS, and magically avoid traffic lines.

• The ‘welcome committee’, offering recommendations for where to eat, what to avoid, and how to make the most of your stay.

• An interpreter or cultural guide, especially in unfamiliar cities or countries, bridging gaps in language and local norms.

• A protector that waited until you got safely inside your home or hotel before driving off.

• A confidant that listens to everything from your job woes to relationship breakdowns .. no subscription required.

• A fixture of community memory in the form of a driver who knew your parents, remembered your last trip and asked after your kids.

• A micro-economy participant, in that they often owned their vehicle, had real agency over hours, routes, pricing, and long-term plans and what they earned was part of the local economy where they plied their trade - no profits siphon off and extracted to the banks of the ride share company.

• A professional, who knows that the job isn’t just driving, but care, awareness, and service - all wrapped in experience.

None of which is really provided by the things replacing taxis …

And yes - I know that doesn’t describe all Taxis - but it certainly describes the good ones.