It is possible:


What you're insinuating is that the bosses of any given business have knowledge of their position that no other man could ever have (except for other to-be bosses); that's what is meant when you say it's "not possible".  Now, nobody knows how to do everything, but that doesn't imply that people are incapable of learning the very specifics of what is required to perform the higher-end jobs; there is no physical limit between what a worker can do and what a manager can do, or what a corporate officer can do.  You don't need to know everything to run a business, unless we're implying the head of any given business has no idea what his workers are doing, or even if they're doing it right; obviously, he does know everything, or he would be an ineffective manager.

If someone works at the same business for 40 years, and he's still at the bottom ring, with no knowledge of management, does this not imply that he is not being taught management, rather than his being able to be a manager?  After all, if we're assuming people can't know everything, then he must be in that position because he is incapable of knowing how to manage.  If I know anything about human beings, it's that something as terribly simple as management (it's certainly not rocket science) is easy enough to learn.  The question, then, is whether the hierarchy is voluntary or involuntary; but it's certainly not a product of a worker being too stupid to lead.