Well, no. That isn't where I go.So how do we build better hierarchical structures where they are needed, and eliminate the ones that are only causing harm (or how do we lessen the harm when we can't structurally remove the hierarchies)?
I consider that while I despise hierarchies, and focus on the negative attributes, my experience is extremely in the the minority (as always). That even the most negative hierarchies are positive for someone and the ratio of positive to negative even within a hierarchy is highly variable.
So I have no desire to eliminate any hierarchies. They are all doing some good.
Rather, I study how they are formed/maintained, which processes/resources are involved. Then all the rejected processes/resources. Because I am more interested in how to make more effective use of the "waste" to form non-hierarchical structures. This will, over time result in patterns that make forming/maintaining hierarchies more difficult. The rate of hierarchic atrophy may increase, and rate of formation drop; but I have no intention of interfering with any existing hierarchies in any but the most indirect of ways. And those ways would be to achieve similar goals by methods more appealing to those who would have been in a hierarchy, otherwise.
Carrot, not stick. If someone opposes what one is attempting, effort is lost to opposition. See above.
Consider unintended consequences, and control. Control brings unintended consequences, and contests for control. I have no desire for control. Or to contest anyone else's idea of control. If control were the goal, I would be thinking of hierarchies in an entirely different way.
Which leads me back to:
Control is an illusion. But implied in every form of systems thinking is the implication that someone has control, and could implement the changes they propose. Please read the Donnella Meadows link.This is the part of systems thinking that causes me the most confusion. That people are capable of mapping systems, and identifying the leverage points. But for some reason can't seem to perceive that every one of those leverage points is contested, and currently set at a compromise point that represents the net interest of concerned parties.
Whereas I think the degree of freedom is curtailed at the same rate that the illusion of control is gained. The more one "controls" the less freedom one has in the use of that control.