August 2015
The power of unified silos

I am pro silo.

One of the authors I respect, Patrick Lencioni, wrote Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars in which he advocated breaking down the siloed nature of many organizations.

First, a reminder.  Most metaphors originate from an image having broader application when properly understood.  Silos exist on farms for a reason.  They hold grain.  But why do farms have multiple silos?  To keep the different types of grain separate from one another.  No one wants soy beans in their corn.
Siloes exist within an organization for a reason and can be healthy.  They exist because there are differing areas of competence and responsibility.  You can't put all of your employees in one silo - no one wants marketing handling operations.
The key?  The silos must choose to remember that they are part of the same farm.  When departments compete over resources (people, space, calendar openings, money, recognition or avoidance of blame) without regard for the needs of the overall organization (i.e., as though each department is the entire organization) they become unhealthy.
Each silo may be successful and so the parts may add up to a successful whole.  But the farm lacks cohesion.  People are not operating from a unified vision nor are they acting with the best interests of others at heart.
One of my clients is a large church.  Each department of the church was successful - the youth ministry, women's ministry, pulpit ministry, children's ministry, and so on - but they acted independently of one another and competed for limited resources.  Without a unified vision they were successful, but not cohesive.  Thankfully working to articulate and implement a unified vision has resulted in healthy cohesion.
The picture below depicts a theory of group development comprised of four stages.  Elements of the theory: 1) The stages must be traveled in succession. 2) When you add new people to the team you return to the forming stage. 3) There are no guarantees that a group will traverse all four stages.
  • Forming: Team members get to know each other - typically an enjoyable stage
  • Storming: Team members begin to challenge each other - people's preferences and personality styles begin to clash and tensions emerge
  • Norming: Team members figure out how to work with each other and how to be successful
  • Performing: Team members are unified and pull together as one, allowing the team to experience cohesion in addition to success
Storming is unavoidable.  The best teams anticipate its coming and move quickly through it to the norming stage.  Unhealthy teams become mired in storming.
What silos exist within your organization?  At what stage of development is your organization?  (Recognize, of course, that at the same point in time various parts of an organization or even department may be at different stages.)

At Julian Consulting we help our clients navigate the stages of group development while fostering an environment with healthy and cohesive silos!  Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.

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Dr. Stephen Julian
  
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