So how do you convince other leadership and the people you lead that this attitude is better?
I've had folks on both sides of the fence who feel strongly that hierarchies should be absolute and following top down decisions is more effective.
If the leaders in your org are crap, then your org is lost no matter whether it seems to have a flat or top-down structure; but if you're already in charge and thinking about how to make things work better, the lesson of the article is to be clever about it, rather than defaulting to the dictatorial mode.
Bob Gurr, a famous Imagineer, said of his boss Walt Disney, "Walt was the greatest dictator ever. People went along with him because he was always right."
Whether actually right or not, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk can be said to have had this effect.
and to be right, you can slap the puck to where you want to go, or skate to where the puck will be. good leaders do both, and much more, like communicating early and often and using various commitment devices (e.g., cutting off retreat). there's really no trite summation of good leadership.