1. To achieve peace and prosperity must a nation be governed by a monarch?
2. For sustainability and prosperity must an organization have a hierarchy in place?
The first question
Three hundred years ago most people would have answered the first question “yes,” because in their lived experience, without a monarch there was continual warring 
among factions. However, the great experiment that is the United States proved that
answer wrong. We have demonstrated that a democracy, governed by the people, is viable. Having shown it was possible, hundreds of countries around the world have followed our example putting into place some form of democracy.
The second question
Today most people would answer the second question “yes,” because in their lived experience all organizations are hierarchical. They assume that’s just the way 
organizations are because without hierarchy you would have chaos and no accountability. However, there are now many examples of organizations, large and small, that function effectively without hierarchy. Many of them have been around for some time, for example, Patagonia, Morning Star, W.L.Gore, and Zappos. Even so they tend to be viewed as abnormalities - the exception that proves the rule. However, the number of such organizations is growing. In Reinventing Organizations, Fredric Laloux provides in-depth descriptions of twelve organizations that are non-hierarchical. In the new Oxford Handbook of the Learning Organization, I describe a study I conducted of two organizations that function without hierarchy, one of which, Kessels & Smit has done so for over twenty years.
Eliminating hierarchy does not mean such organizations are without structure. Most are organized in self-managed teams and those teams have jointly thought through a structure that includes processes and practices for how decisions are made, salaries are set, people are recruited and dismissed, conflicts resolved, etc. All these organizations are based on peer relationships that are undergirded by a very simple assumption, that employees have both the intelligence and the will to act for the good of the whole.
We should not be surprised that organizations are moving away from hierarchy. A number of thoughtful theorist have predicted the need for more democratic organizations that preclude hierarchy.
In 2004 Weisbord said, “Democracy is a tough way to live. With all its flaws, I think it beats the alternatives. I do not wish to have someone else, no matter how educated, 
well intentioned, wealthy, or wise, decide unilaterally what is best for me. Unless we are deeply involved in our work, we cannot feel good about ourselves. Unless we work with others toward valued goals, we cannot infuse hope and aspiration into our lives. Unless we treat one another as equals, we cannot find dignity, meaning, and community in work. Unless we make our own mistakes, and learn to forgive ourselves, we cannot learn at all. Unless we cooperate, we cannot survive.”
In 1964, Warren Bennis and Phil Slater said Democracy Is Inevitable, "In both the workplace and the world this is the only system which can successfully cope with the changing demands of contemporary civilization.”
Much earlier, Mary Parker Follett said she could not understand how 
people could complain about small freedoms being taken away, like helmet laws or seat belts, yet were willing to function as surfs within the walls of an organization.
In 1989, Edgar Schein said that given the computer revolution, “soon we will need to develop a new picture of what a manager should be. 
Hierarchical authority will probably play a much small role in that picture, while coordination skills will play a much larger role.” But he cautioned that, “Our thinking about these matters is hampered by one major, deeply embedded cultural assumption so taken for granted that it is difficult even to articulate. This is the assumption that all organizations are fundamentally hierarchical in nature, and that the management process is fundamentally hierarchical.” He said “We need models, but we may have difficulty inventing them because of the automatic tendency to think hierarchically.”
The good news is that we now have those much needed models in manufacturing, government, retail, health, schools, consulting, and more. The structures they invent vary with the industry, but they are all self-managed, with no managers and no hierarchy. Its time to change.
