What Can Managers Do About Corporate Silos?

An unfortunate corporate reality is the existence of silos. A silo looks something like this.

A group figures out how to solve a problem, executes and is wildly successful. They begin to believe that they can solve all problems and seek to dominate a corporate space. The scope of their domain increases over time and so does the perception of their influence. They feel they are the only group who can solve problems correctly. They belittle or even politically sabotage other groups.

They have become a silo.

Some of you are thinking, “yeah I know a group like that.” Others are thinking “all of our groups are silos.”

Truth be told, I have never worked for an organization that did not have silos. When you work for a company that has many silos or kingdoms as I call them, you become a member of one of them. I have heard so much belly aching over silos throughout my career; however, most of it comes from people who are card-carrying members of a silo themselves.

So, what can we do about corporate silos? Is there any hope?

Yes and no.

There are things you can do if you are not on the management team. There are things you can do if you are on a management team. The problem is not solved unless both management and non-management agree to to their part in breaking up the silos. Today I will focus on what management can do.

Most companies continue to nurture their silos and even create new ones.

Why?

Management is not committed to changing culture. I am not trying to vilify management, rather point out that corporate culture is structured in a way that fosters kingdom building. Since software and information management is my domain, I will use it as an example.

In Information Technology, we have groups of software developers assigned to projects. One group might develop the flagship product for the company. Another group might develop a department system that manages cost.

See any problem with this example already?

Problem: Group “A” works on a highly visible project. It is the application that is the company’s cash cow. This group gets noticed, they get recognition. Group “B” is working on a departmental application that is saving the company a ton of money, but it is not a visible project. There is nothing really attractive about the project and the group rarely gets publicly recognized.

Result: Two silos are formed. The successful group A begins to think they are the favored child and look at Group “B’s” efforts as unimportant. After-all, they are Group “A” and they are bringing in the money. They watch leadership reinforce this theme. Group “B” assumes the title “step-child” that management and Group “A” have bestowed upon them.

So what could management do to fix this situation?

1. Publicly recognize both groups on a regular basis. Treat them equal.

2. Reinforce that the company would not be profitable if it were not for the revenue producing efforts of Group “A” and the cost-saving efforts of Group “B.”

3. Start to cross-pollinate the two groups. Move people around.

4. Deal with front-line management that demonstrate “silo” behavior.

5. Deal with the members of Group “A” that become self-important. Get rid of them if they develop a “hero” mentality.

6. Reward collaborative thinking.

It really isn’t that tough in theory. It practice, it takes strong leadership that understands people. It takes executives that recognize that ALL of their good performers are important to the company and the bottom-line.

As a leader, I challenge you and me to re-evaluate what we are doing with our people.

Are we fostering silos?

Are we part of the problem?