> corporate folks are just obsessed with hierarchy
You should read "The Dictator's Handbook." While it primarily applies to politicians in both democracies and authoritarian regimes, the thinking proposed in the book also applies to the corporate world. In other words, some people thrive on power, but these individuals are not always the best for the company due to a misalignment between their desires and the company's needs. Nevertheless, the system still works because... well, just read the book (or at least a summary of it)!
I'm somewhat pessimistic about corporate culture: companies have an instinctual drive to hunt for profit. If they didn't, they would go extinct by going bankrupt. This leads to a self-selection process that explains a lot. Combine this with the tendency of some people to strive for power—as you mentioned, "they want to move up the chain"—and we end up with a somewhat toxic mixture in today's economy.
Regarding the topic "Agile is killing software innovation," I would argue that it's not Agile itself that's stifling innovation, but rather the emergent structure and behavior of corporate entities. The combination of power-hungry individuals and profit-seeking companies stifles a lot of potential. It's highly inefficient and causes considerable misery, but it seems to function just well enough to keep the economy limping along.
One of the saving graces of corporate entities is their ability to buy up startups, for example.
You should read "The Dictator's Handbook." While it primarily applies to politicians in both democracies and authoritarian regimes, the thinking proposed in the book also applies to the corporate world. In other words, some people thrive on power, but these individuals are not always the best for the company due to a misalignment between their desires and the company's needs. Nevertheless, the system still works because... well, just read the book (or at least a summary of it)!
I'm somewhat pessimistic about corporate culture: companies have an instinctual drive to hunt for profit. If they didn't, they would go extinct by going bankrupt. This leads to a self-selection process that explains a lot. Combine this with the tendency of some people to strive for power—as you mentioned, "they want to move up the chain"—and we end up with a somewhat toxic mixture in today's economy.
Regarding the topic "Agile is killing software innovation," I would argue that it's not Agile itself that's stifling innovation, but rather the emergent structure and behavior of corporate entities. The combination of power-hungry individuals and profit-seeking companies stifles a lot of potential. It's highly inefficient and causes considerable misery, but it seems to function just well enough to keep the economy limping along.
One of the saving graces of corporate entities is their ability to buy up startups, for example.