It seems just about everyone these days has a hate on for silos. In business, silos are everywhere:
• Functional silos (product management, sales, finance etc.),
• Geographical silos (US, EMEA, BRIC, etc.)
• Technology silos (ERP, CRM, DM, etc.).
Silos are perceived to block communication, prevent collaboration, and isolate people and teams from one another. They are evil and they must be destroyed. But how?
The solution getting the most traction lately is the creation of one massive silo into which everyone in an organization belongs. A single corporate-wide system / tool that houses all content and provides everything one needs to do their job and work together. Sounds like the worlds largest Swiss Army Knife to me. The thing is… no such tool exists.
The problem isn’t silos themselves. The problem is people are stuck inside of them, unable to reach beyond their walls to openly and freely connect, share and collaborate.
Silos are powerful and beneficial to an organization. They are the groups that possess unique knowledge, domain expertise, market intelligence, technological know-how or other specialty that enables them to be expert in some unique dimension of the business. Silos are what allow companies to enter new markets, develop and innovate new product ideas and ultimately push the organization in new directions. Why would you organization want to eliminate that?
No, silos and the value they deliver to an organization must be embraced. Finding a way to allow silos to maintain their uniqueness and inherent power while simultaneously providing a mechanism for the people to connect outside them is the answer.
Accomplish that and the world will see that silos truly are here for Good and not Evil.
