The corporate ladder has been the prevailing model for how companies manage their work and their people since the beginning of the industrial revolution a century ago‎.‎ The ladder represents an inflexible view in which prestige‎,‎ rewards‎,‎ access to information‎,‎ influence‎,‎ power‎,‎ etc‎.‎ are tied to the rung one occupies‎.‎ The problem is‎,‎ the authors argue‎,‎ we no longer live in the industrial age‎.‎ The pace of change is faster‎.‎ Work is increasingly virtual‎,‎ collaborative‎,‎ and dispersed‎.‎ Organizations are flatter‎.‎ Companies are much easier to see into‎.‎ Careers zig and zag‎.‎ Work is done wherever‎,‎ whenever‎.‎ And information flows in all directions‎.‎ The result‎?‎ The ladder model ‎-‎- along with the outdated norms and expectations that defined it ‎-‎- is collapsing‎.‎ In their best‎-selling book‎,‎ The Corporate Lattice‎:‎ Achieving High Performance in the Changing World of Work‎,‎ author Cathy Benko and co‎-author Molly Anderson define the emerging Corporate LatticeTM model and argue convincingly that a lattice is better suited for today‎'‎s global business environment‎.‎ They describe the shift across three dimensions‎:‎ ‎-‎-How careers are built‎:‎ From straight up to zigzag‎.‎ Rather than a series of linear career paths‎,‎ lattice organizations offer customized options for growth and development‎.‎ Lattice ways to build careers attract and engage the best talent and create versatile employees well suited to respond to change‎.‎ ‎-‎-How work gets done‎:‎ From where you go to what you do‎.‎ Rather than expecting people to sit at their desks clocking face time from 9 to 5‎,‎ lattice organizations offer options for when‎,‎ where‎,‎ and how people do their work‎.‎ Lattice ways to work increase productivity and retention while increasing strategic flexibility in business operations‎.‎ ‎-‎-How participation is fostered‎:‎ From top‎-down to all‎-in‎.‎ Instead of directed‎,‎ top‎-down communications‎,‎ lattice organizations nurture transparent cultures‎,‎ providing multiple ways for people to share ideas‎,‎ learn‎,‎ and team‎.‎ Lattice ways to participate tap the power of an inclusive workplace to drive innovation‎,‎ growth‎,‎ and agility‎.‎ Offering much more than theory‎,‎ the authors illustrate the lattice model using rich‎,‎ in‎-depth case studies of exemplars including Cisco‎,‎ Deloitte LLP‎,‎ and Thomson Reuters‎.‎ They also explore the changing role each individual plays in directing his or her own lattice journey‎.‎