Chain of Command : What is Happening to It?

Next to religion, there are few ideas as strongly held or as vigorously defended as those involving chains of command. Many in fact will contend with all seriousness that if they have not been ordained by God, they should have been. And yet “going through channels” is among the most frequently violated of the so‐called “principles” of management. No sooner has the superstructure been set than those caught in it must face the fact that if it is to function successfully they must find ways of circumventing it. This applies to those higher up as well as those down below. It happens both ways. Now, when a principle is violated often enough, it is of course no longer a principle, or even a proverb. Yet try to find a single writer in the field who will advise you to do anything but go through channels, however tortuous that may be (emergencies excepted), and you will get the point.