The root of the word “silo” is in the Greek word “siros”, meaning “corn pit”. Later, Western military forces used the term “silo” to describe the basement used to accommodate missiles. Now managers use the term “silo” as an analogy of business systems, groups or processes to work separately from each other. Isles can undermine the ability of companies to effectively utilize people’s best thinking.
There are many examples of silo cruel communication and examples of sharing insights that may lead to competitive advantages. Sony’s inability to follow up on its huge success in the Walkman of Portable Music was largely due to silos inside the organization.
Due to the lack of internal coordination and communication, Sony launched two different digital walker devices in 1999. This disconnected strategy allows Apple to capture the market for portable music players. As Sony CEO Howard Stringer lamented: “What’s wrong with Sony? Isolated islands are a big part of it. Sony is a company that has too many silos!”
Is your team engaged in a consistent policy conversation with other functional groups in the organization? After hundreds of strategy conversations between cross-functional teams, I have identified on the training card several techniques you can use to effectively span the company’s silos.
