Wait, do we need middle managers after all?

For years, middle management has been organizational shorthand for inefficiency.

Too many meetings. Too many layers. Too much translating information that could simply flow directly from the top to the bottom.

Then came AI.

Surely, if information can travel instantly, decisions can be supported by algorithms, and everyone has a very smart assistant at their fingertips, organizations can become even flatter.

Except something interesting is happening.

Meta, a company famous for its “year of efficiency,” is reportedly asking some employees to become managers again. Meanwhile, research from Harvard Business Review argues that middle managers can make or break AI adoption.

Maybe middle management was never the problem. Maybe bad middle management was.

Because the most valuable managers were never just moving information up and down the organization. They were making sense of it.

They translated strategy into something people could act on. They noticed when a team was losing energy before a dashboard did. They connected people who should be talking. They helped someone navigate ambiguity when there was no obvious right answer.

And these are precisely the things that become more valuable when AI makes information and answers abundant.

The paradox is that the more technology removes the need for coordination, the more organizations may need people who create context, connection and meaning.

So perhaps the future organization is flatter. But flatter does not necessarily mean managerless.

It might simply mean fewer managers doing more deeply human work.

How can Innate Motion help?

As organizations redesign themselves around AI, the question is not only which roles can disappear, but which human capabilities need to become stronger. Innate Motion can help organizations understand what people really need from leadership in a changing context, reimagine the role of managers around meaning and connection rather than control, and grow the human capabilities teams need to navigate ambiguity, change and new ways of working.

P.S. Want your business to feel more human and make a bigger impact? Let’s fix that! Book a free 30-minute consultation and let’s tackle your biggest or smallest business challenge together.

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