Restaurant kitchen displaying traditional brigade system with specialized roles and coordinated workflow management. Photo by Garrett Ziegler, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Executive Chef Rafael Moreno runs his kitchen at Coastal Table like a Swiss watch, but when I asked him to explain his team structure, he said something that surprised me: “The brigade system isn’t about hierarchy—it’s about information flow. Every position exists to make sure the right information gets to the right person at exactly the right time.”

Watching Rafael’s 14-person team coordinate a 200-cover dinner service revealed organizational principles that completely transformed how I think about manufacturing team structure and why traditional corporate hierarchies often fail where kitchen hierarchies consistently succeed. The difference isn’t in the structure—it’s in how information flows through the structure.

“Corporate hierarchy is about authority flowing downward,” Rafael explained during a brief pause between services. “Brigade hierarchy is about intelligence flowing upward and coordination flowing throughout. Authority is just the tool that makes the information system work.”

The insight that revolutionized my understanding: Effective organizational structure serves information flow, not power distribution.

The Intelligence Architecture of Kitchen Hierarchy

Rafael’s brigade system demonstrated how hierarchical structure can enhance rather than restrict information flow and team capability:

Sensor Network Design: Each position in the brigade serves as an information sensor for specific aspects of kitchen operations—garde manger monitors cold production quality, sauté tracks protein cooking timing, expo coordinates overall service flow.

Information Aggregation Efficiency: The sous chef position aggregates information from multiple stations to provide the executive chef with synthesized intelligence rather than raw data streams from each station.

Decision Distribution Framework: Decisions are made at the level where the best information exists—seasoning adjustments by line cooks, timing coordination by expo, strategic direction by executive chef.

Feedback Loop Optimization: Information flows both up (current status, problems, opportunities) and down (adjustments, priorities, coordination) with clear protocols for each type of communication.

“Watch how information moves during service,” Rafael pointed out as orders began arriving. “Every person knows exactly what information they need to collect, who needs to receive it, and how quickly it needs to move. That’s why we can coordinate complex operations under extreme time pressure.”

This information-centric approach to hierarchy revealed organizational design principles that traditional management theory often misses.

Kitchen expediting position displaying central coordination of multiple stations and systematic order flow management. Photo by Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Manufacturing Translation: Information-Driven Team Structure

Rafael’s brigade insights provided frameworks for redesigning manufacturing team structure around information flow rather than just authority distribution:

Production Intelligence Networks: Organizing manufacturing teams so that each position generates specific intelligence about quality, efficiency, safety, and coordination that feeds into operational decision-making.

Decision Point Optimization: Placing decision authority at the organizational level where the best information exists rather than defaulting to hierarchical level or job title.

Communication Protocol Design: Creating clear protocols for different types of information flow—status updates, problem alerts, improvement suggestions, coordination requirements.

Feedback System Integration: Ensuring information flows both up (operational intelligence) and down (priorities, adjustments, coordination) with appropriate speed and detail for each communication type.

“We’ve been organizing our manufacturing teams around authority instead of intelligence,” I realized while watching Rafael’s expo coordinate six different stations simultaneously. “The brigade system shows how hierarchy can actually improve information flow and team capability when it’s designed correctly.”

This intelligence-focused approach to team structure revealed why many manufacturing improvement initiatives fail despite good intentions and adequate resources.

The Real Estate Management Parallel: Property Team Intelligence Systems

Rafael’s brigade principles apply directly to property management team structure and operational coordination:

Property Intelligence Gathering: Organizing property management teams so that each role generates specific intelligence about tenant satisfaction, building performance, market conditions, and operational efficiency.

Maintenance Coordination Systems: Creating communication protocols that ensure maintenance information flows efficiently between tenants, property managers, maintenance staff, and vendors.

Market Intelligence Integration: Structuring teams so that market information, tenant feedback, and operational data combine to inform strategic property decisions.

Tenant Relationship Management: Organizing tenant interaction protocols so that relationship intelligence flows to appropriate decision-makers while maintaining responsive communication.

The key insight is that property management success requires team structures that optimize information flow rather than just task distribution.

The Discovery: Hierarchy as Coordination Technology

Rafael’s kitchen revealed that effective hierarchy serves as coordination technology that enables complex team capabilities rather than just power distribution system:

Specialization with Integration: Brigade structure allows deep specialization within individual positions while maintaining integrated team capability through systematic information sharing.

Scalable Coordination: Hierarchical structure enables coordination of complex operations that would be impossible through peer-to-peer communication alone.

Quality Control Distribution: Quality responsibility is distributed throughout the hierarchy rather than concentrated at management level, improving both quality and responsiveness.

Learning and Development: Hierarchical progression provides career development paths while ensuring knowledge transfer and capability building throughout the organization.

“The brigade isn’t about bosses and workers,” Rafael explained. “It’s about creating team capability that exceeds what any individual could achieve while developing individual skills and career progression.”

This capability-building aspect of hierarchy revealed organizational development principles that flat structure advocates often overlook.

Implementing Brigade-Inspired Manufacturing Teams

Based on Rafael’s methodology, we redesigned our manufacturing team structure around information flow and capability development:

Intelligence Role Definition: Each position was redefined to include specific intelligence gathering and sharing responsibilities in addition to production tasks.

Communication Protocol Development: Clear protocols for different types of information flow, with appropriate speed and detail requirements for each communication type.

Decision Authority Alignment: Decision-making authority was aligned with information access rather than just organizational level or job title.

Development Pathway Integration: Team structure was designed to provide career development paths while ensuring knowledge transfer and capability building.

This information-driven team structure improved both operational performance and team satisfaction while reducing coordination problems.

Manufacturing team organization displaying systematic information flow and coordinated decision-making structure. Photo by Kitmondo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Cultural Transformation: From Authority to Intelligence

The most significant change was shifting from authority-based hierarchy to intelligence-based hierarchy:

Traditional Hierarchy Culture: “Hierarchy exists to ensure that authority flows from management to workers and decisions are made by people with appropriate organizational level.”

Intelligence-Driven Hierarchy Culture: “Hierarchy exists to ensure that information flows efficiently throughout the organization and decisions are made by people with the best relevant intelligence.”

This shift required different leadership skills and organizational capabilities:

Information Flow Management: Leaders focus on ensuring effective information flow rather than just exercising decision authority.

Intelligence Development: Developing organizational capability to generate, synthesize, and utilize operational intelligence rather than just following predetermined procedures.

Coordination Facilitation: Leadership becomes about facilitating coordination and capability development rather than just directing task completion.

“I used to think hierarchy was about who makes decisions,” reflected our production supervisor, Maria Santos. “Now I understand it’s about how information flows so that the right decisions get made by people with the right intelligence.”

The Performance Enhancement Effect

Intelligence-driven team structure accelerated both operational performance and organizational development:

Problem-Solving Speed: Problems were identified and resolved faster because information flowed to appropriate decision-makers more efficiently.

Quality Improvement: Quality control was distributed throughout the team structure, improving both responsiveness and consistency.

Innovation Acceleration: Improvement ideas generated throughout the organization reached implementation faster through clear information flow protocols.

Capability Development: Team members developed broader understanding of operations while maintaining specialized expertise in their primary roles.

Rafael’s approach revealed that team structure effectiveness comes from optimizing information flow rather than just task distribution or authority allocation.

The Coordination Under Pressure Principle

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Rafael’s brigade system was how team coordination improved under pressure rather than degrading:

Stress Response Optimization: Clear information flow protocols enabled better coordination during high-pressure periods when traditional communication approaches often break down.

Role Clarity Maintenance: Team members maintained clear understanding of their responsibilities and communication requirements even when operations became chaotic.

Intelligence Prioritization: Critical information received priority during busy periods while less urgent communication was appropriately delayed or aggregated.

Capability Scalability: Team structure enabled handling of demand spikes without losing coordination or quality control.

“The brigade structure is designed for stress,” Rafael noted. “When things get busy, clear roles and communication protocols become more important, not less important. That’s when structure saves you.”

The Broader Principle: Structure as Information Technology

Rafael’s kitchen insights revealed that organizational structure should be designed as information technology that enhances team capability rather than just authority distribution system. This principle applies whether you’re managing restaurant kitchens, manufacturing teams, or property management operations.

Manufacturing: Design team structure around information flow and decision optimization rather than just task distribution and authority hierarchy.

Real Estate: Organize property management teams to optimize intelligence gathering and coordination rather than just role specialization and management control.

Service Operations: Create team structures that enhance information flow and capability development rather than just standardizing procedures and maintaining authority.

The key insight is that effective organizational structure serves team capability and coordination rather than just management control and task assignment.

As Rafael said during our post-service debrief: “The best team structure is invisible during good times and invaluable during difficult times. You know it’s working when coordination gets better under pressure instead of breaking down.”

That distinction—between structure that serves control and structure that serves capability—has transformed how I approach team organization and operational design in every domain I work in.

The best organizational structures don’t just distribute authority; they optimize information flow and team capability development. Rafael’s brigade system taught me that hierarchy can enhance rather than restrict team performance when it’s designed to serve intelligence and coordination rather than just authority and control.

Team structure is ultimately about creating organizational technology that enables complex coordination and continuous capability development—designing systems that make teams more intelligent and capable rather than just more controllable and predictable.