Alex Popescu, in Silos Are Built for a Reason quotes Greg Lowe saying:
In a typical large enterprise, there are competitions for resources and success, competing priorities and lots of irrelevant activities that are happening that can become distractions from accomplishing the goals of the teams.
Another reason silos are built has to do with affiliation. This is by choice, not by edict. By building groups where you share a shared set of goals, you effectively have an area of focus with a group of people interested in the same area and/or outcome.
There are many more reasons and impacts of why silos are built, but I simply wanted to establish that silos are built for a purpose with legitimate business needs in mind.
Alex then responds:
Legitimate? Maybe. Productive? I don’t really think so.
Greg’s original post is: Breaking down silos, what does that mean?
Greg asks about the benefits of breaking down silos:
- Are the silos mandatory?
- What would breaking down silos enable in the business?
- What do silos do to your business today?
- What incentive is there for these silos to go away?
- Is your company prepared for transparency?
- How will leadership deal with “Monday morning quarterbacks?”
As you can see, there are many benefits to silos as well as challenges. By developing a deeper understanding of the silos and why they get created, you can then have a better handle on whether the silos are beneficial or detrimental to the organization.
I would add to Greg’s question list:
- Which stakeholders benefit from the silos?
- What is that benefit?
- It there a carrot or stick that out weighs that benefit? (in the view of the stakeholder)
- Do you have the political capital to take the stakeholders on and win?
If your answer are:
- List of names
- List of benefits
- Yes, list of carrots/sticks
- No
Then you are in good company.
Intelligence silos persist despite the United States being at war with identifiable terrorist groups.
Generalized benefit or penalty for failure, isn’t a winning argument to break a data silo.
Specific benefits and penalties must matter to stakeholders. Then you have a chance to break a data silo.
Good luck!