[Wolf_Larsen]

You aren't making a very clear point. Are you saying that : "Alpha males will always assume they'll end up in the top spot, so when they choose rules for a situation regarding two competing agents, their choices will favor the agent in with the most authority"?

If so, then you are assuming a context in which the agents of the situation can change the roles in which they are assigned permanently. That is not the case in this context, because the agents (Jason Fried's support team) are rotated between management and worker, and no one is getting promoted vertically.

[jdp23]

I thought hapless' point was very clear:

"A "flat" structure overvalues the opinions of the loud and aggressive, with little room for more pensive contributors, especially women."

Coincidentally enough, Jason leads off the article with an anecdote about a talented woman leaving the company because of their flat structure.

[Wolf_Larsen]

He was referencing a quote, not the structure of 37 Signals.

[aangjie]

//are rotated between management and worker, and no one is getting promoted vertically.

While that's true, i think his original point was that the alpha males will choose decisions that favour themselves....Introspective motivational awareness is hardly a profitable trait in our current society* (*-whatever i have seen is constrained to indian IT)