Thursday, September 10, 2015

Silo Construction


Seen in the workplace:

  • Executives and managers are admonished to think of the good of the organization when discussing large issues in staff meetings and to avoid being parochial. As a result, the specialized expertise that they bring to the table is muted or silenced. 
  • Teams perform very effectively in their areas of expertise but do not coordinate with and share information with other teams because of turf boundaries and/or because they - and the other teams - have not examined how information each possesses can be of use to the others.

3 comments:

Kurt Harden said...

Teams rush headlong down a path to product design, forgetting to consult end users only to act surprised when end users suggest significant changes to the product.

Michael Wade said...

Kurt,

Great example.

They should always start with the customer and walk backwards through the various departments that will affect what reaches the customer.

Michael

Kurt Harden said...

Absolutely.

Voice of the customer.

Kurt