'Pyramids Are Tombs' denounces traditional corporate structure. (Bookmark).

Originally written to align associates at The Phelps Group with company policy and mission, "Pyramids Are Tombs" advocates moving from a top-down corporate structure to self-directed, client-based teams for greater efficiency, speed, economy and integration.

"Organizations with top-down, command-and-control management (and organizational charts shaped like pyramids) are the dinosaurs of the service-oriented, information age in which we live," according to author Joe Phelps, who started his integrated marketing communications agency 20 years ago with Fender Guitars as his sole client.

"Pyramids Are Tombs" explains a new organizational structure that focuses on clients, with teams of specialists and coaches supporting them. The book, a step-by-step guide for implementing this model, is organized according to the five "thrusters" of The Phelps Group's logo, each representing a different element of the company's mission statement. The first is self-directed teams. The success of this initial step hinges on selecting employees who can work in a nontraditional setting where office real estate means nothing and junior associates are encouraged to critique openly the work of senior coaches. Though mired in alternately hokey and corporate language, Phelps's theories hold certain gems of organizational truths: "If a company recruits smart, motivated team players (visualize them as rocket engines), and these people's personal missions are in alignment with the company's, then they're like multiple rocket engines strapped to the company mission, propelling the company upward towards vision."

According to Phelps, this structure raises retention rates by "enhancing commitment to the organization, as opposed to 'obeying' in order to earn money."

Creating an environment where employees receive consistent feedback--the second thruster, or step--is also supposed to boost employee retention as well as morale and productivity. "If an individual or a team receives the proper feedback from the critical sources, they'll usually deliver the right answers," writes Phelps. This feedback can come from other associates, coaches, clients, vendors or even family members. And critique can be found in lengthy vendor/client surveys; massive internal bulletin boards, where even the roughest ideas must be regularly posted; weekly brainstorming sessions that clients can feel free to sit in on; face-to-face meetings; or simple "what do you think" e-mails.

Once these first two thrusters are aligned, companies subscribing to Phelps's model purportedly will benefit from greater efficiency and speed to market by cutting out the lengthy approval process locked into the traditional top-down structures where senior management is often unavailable. "So the project languishes. Pages fly off the calendar and the competition might win the game because of faster speed to market."

One conspicuous drawback to Phelps's model (and one that he admits) is that self-directed, client-based teams will work only for certain types of professional service companies, such as marketing communication and PR firms. His model would be harder to implement, and much more unwieldy, with a manufacturing company or even a member-based association.

For organizations that can support this customer-centric structure, "Pyramids Are Tombs" offers practical, how-to advice, including how to flatten a pyramid, why a company should organize in self-directed, client-based teams, and exactly how many people should be on a team (hint: five to 12). The book includes a number of glossy case studies pulled from The Phelps Group's campaigns and a 46-page planning guide for developing integrated marketing communications.

Despite reading much like a 300-page recruiting brochure for The Phelps Group, at times distastefully self-congratulatory, "Pyramids Are Tombs" makes a compelling case for tearing down traditional corporate structure and building a new model in which "the client is God."

Naomi Mandelstein is senior editor of Communication World.