By any name, silo mentality is ageless
What is a silo? A farmer would probably say it’s a tower for storing grain.
But the response to the same question from a management advisor would be something like “Employees in different departments of a company working toward the same ends but failing to communicate with each other. This often leads to time lost, unnecessary costs and goals going unaccomplished.”
The farmer’s response may be closer to what a silo is physically. But in today’s business world the advisor’s perspective reflects how silos are thought of outside of farming. So, why are we talking about silos here?
In my consulting assignments I have used the term in pinpointing a company’s failure to achieve a desired goal. Often the problem results from territorial mindsets. Which is also known as “guarding one’s turf.”
An example of this mindset at the individual level is reflected in what a company manager once told me, “If I shared what I know with others they may get the credit. Where does that leave me?”
Silos also came to my attention through a company I have been consulting for. It manufactures facial health creams. To produce the final product, ingredients are mixed in high height cylindrical metallic tanks. A company member heard me referred to them as vats. He then tapped my shoulder and said, “Here, we call them silos.”
At first, in writing about silos I thought I was tackling new ground. Not so. The topic has been exhaustively covered as issues organizations face. And my research shows variations of strategic action taken in addressing workplace silos. These steps range from establishing a vision, to creating unified teams, to shifting mindsets and behaviors.
In doing my research it became clear that the silo mentality may not be a new phenomenon historically. It may have been called by other names, but it has always existed.
I envisioned groups of medieval monks isolated in monasteries and never uttering a word to outsiders. My guess is they formed their own distinctive silent silos. And information that could have helped fellow monks remained locked within themselves.
The silo mentality goes beyond workplaces. It can exist in community volunteer groups focused on helping the elderly or children in need.
Committees in these volunteer groups are appointed to address specific issues, such as recruiting new members. But these committees can become so inwardly focused that they sometimes forego communicating with other committees within their organization.
Silos can also come about in family businesses. I once came across one a midsized size company faced with this problem. All members were individually great but there was unquestionably a silo mindset in how they managed. At the heart of their problems was an inability to communicate openly with each other. Consequently, they occasionally stumbled on each other and made questionable decisions.
It’s unfortunate that there was no “Blue Bloods” quasi-like family business police procedural on TV then. They could have used that program as a model for doing away with communicating with each other. I was glad to later learn they apparently recognized there was a problem among themselves and brought in an external family business advisor.
What was most surprising in my research is that I found little information on breaking down silos within families. But I knew they existed. A colleague shared the story of two otherwise normal adult siblings who may have competed since early childhood.
These two brothers jointly inherited a suburban family house from their parents. They argued over whether to sell it and when to sell it. Those issues got settled — but the brothers’ early differences drove their own families, once close, apart from each other to the extent that the families have remained steadfastly apart for decades.
So, what leads to silo mindsets forming in organizations and in families? From my research much seems to be due to individuals not connecting with others and communicating openly. Perhaps that’s what led John Maxwell to title his 2018 book, “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect.”
In his book Maxwell makes no reference to silos. But much of what he writes I believe can be helpful in breaking down silos. For example, he says, “If you want to connect well with people, you must become the kind of person you want to connect with.” That’s an insightful observation.
As far as suggestions from other sources for breaking down silos in families, two stood out. One was to read what management gurus have prescribed for organizations and try applying it to ones’ relatives.
A second one was that breaking down silos in a family began with just acknowledging that they did exist.