Unity of Command

There is a very basic principle of Management 101 that you learn very early in the book. "Every person should receive his orders from an immediate supervisor." That principle is routinely and flagrantly violated in business today. Your boss gives you orders, your boss's boss gives you orders; your bosses dotted-line boss gives you orders; supervisors in other departments give you orders. None of the others bothers to go through your boss, so you do not know how to prioritize your work. Thus you become inefficient. There is a reason for the rule. It is also a reason that American business is not more efficient than it is.