Flexible Organizations

The rise of AI assures that Flexibility will be one of the most important skill sets of an organization.
We believe a necessary step is to separate status, pay, and the chain of command from distinct roles.
Reed Hoffman wrote an influential management book called The Alliance, which prodded businesses to rethink how people were hired and managed. He recommended thinking about jobs and roles as a "Tour of Duty" with a specific mission that people are prone to push through and complete.

Flexibility comes from a Separation of Rank & Pay, Role & Duty

In the military, the need for flexibility is life and death. So, it's likely they have figured out things worth taking note of.
The architect of the US Military as we know it was conceived by George C. Marshall, he of the Marshall Plan fame. His ideas were a reaction to the reckless rigidity of senior officers and command structures in World War I, where both sides rigidly stuck to ill-conceived methods of attack, despite the advent of the machine gun. This resulted, from Marshall's view, in the unnecessary deaths of millions of soldiers over a few hundred yards during ill-fated trench warfare. Rigidity, Marshall felt, led to mass scale catastrophe.
One of Marshall's convictions was that if a leader was not being effective in their assigned duty, they must be "relieved" of that duty or command. This is not the same as "firing" or even "laying off" key people. It is simply bringing them back to base and figuring out what role they could be successful in. [2]
The below ranks came with pay and status. Rank, pay, status, and seniority were not tethered to official roles, responsibilities, or duties.
Pay GradeTitleAbbreviation
E-1PrivatePVT
E-2Private 2PV2
E-3Private First ClassPFC
E-4SpecialistSPC
E-4CorporalCPL
E-5SergeantSGT
E-6Staff SergeantSSG
E-7Sergeant First ClassSFC
E-8Master SergeantMSG
E-8First Sergeant1SG
E-9Sergeant MajorSGM
E-9Command Sergeant MajorCSM
E-9 SpecialSergeant Major of the ArmySMA
W-1Warrant OfficerWO1
W-2Chief Warrant Officer 2CW2
W-3Chief Warrant Officer 3CW3
W-4Chief Warrant Officer 4CW4
W-5Chief Warrant Officer 5CW5
O-1Second Lieutenant2LT
O-2First Lieutenant1LT
O-3CaptainCPT
O-4MajorMAJ
O-5Lieutenant ColonelLTC
O-6ColonelCOL
O-7Brigadier GeneralBG
O-8Major GeneralMG
O-9Lieutenant GeneralLTG
O-10GeneralGEN
SpecialGeneral of the ArmyGA
[1]

Footnotes

[1] 2022, May 31. "A complete guide to military ranks and insignias" United American Patriots, Blog.

[2] 2011, Mar 23. "Why our generals were more successful in World War II than in Korea, Vietnam or Iraq/Afghanistan" The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Lecture, UC Berkeley events. YouTube.