Tear Down Knowledge Silos with Enterprise Social Networks

By Len Rosen Mar 9, 2010

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Silos don’t just exist on farms. You can find them in business, in government, in charities, in hospitals, everywhere where humans organize. Silos can be strategic, functional or geographic. They are characterized by their isolation within the larger organization, acting as self-contained units with very little interaction occurring outside their walls.

What is Silo Thinking?

The expressions "silo thinking," "silo vision" and the "silo effect" describe departments, teams and groups that function well on their own but are dysfunctional as contributors to overall performance within an organization. Silos are focused on their own issues, their specialties. The members of silos view the opinions of those outside the silo as being of no value. This behavioral rigidity can have serious negative consequences. Just ask Helen Lampert, Partner at WISDOM Practice, a Toronto, Canada, based consulting firm that specializes in strengthening organizational performance.

"We see silo thinking a lot," states Lampert. "Teams, as small as five members, are just as likely to operate in silos as global organizations with headquarters around the world. The consequence is that the whole is less than the parts, best practices are never shared, and opportunities to leverage existing investments and intellectual capital are wasted."

Lampert along with her partner Lisa Brisebois have been providing companies with training and coaching on improving team effectiveness. Lampert comments, "In our experience, smashing silos is an imperative for success. Sadly, once the silo effect becomes a cultural norm, it takes extraordinary determination and support to break through and change behavior."

The Consequences of Silo Thinking

There are far too many examples of silo thinking contributing to detrimental outcomes. Here are just a few from recent world headlines.

Just think of the senior flight safety decision-making processes at NASA that led to the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster. Those outside of the inner circle raised alarms about a potential danger from falling foam debris but the inner circle in its silo ignored the concerns. In the report that followed this disaster the conclusions referenced the silo thinking at NASA as contributing to the death of 8 astronauts and the loss of the spacecraft.

What about the lack of a tsunami early warning system when coastal areas around the Indian Ocean were inundated in December 2004? Countries on the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire had an early warning system in place. Why did countries surrounding the Indian Ocean not overcome their own silo thinking to recognize the importance of implementing a similar system? Over 226,000 people died. Many could have been saved.

Can the failure of the levies around New Orleans be attributed to the silo effect? The Army Corps of Engineers, climatologists, federal and state government bodies, all failed to act in concert to prevent the post-Katrina disaster. Each knew that the levies could not withstand a significant storm surge resulting from a hurricane. The result — the flooding of 80% of the city and the death of over 1,800 people.

Is the current massive recall of Toyota motor vehicles another example of the consequences of silo thinking? Despite customer field complaints about quality and safety issues, those in the upper tier at Toyota appeared to ignore the problem. The current count has reached over 9 million vehicles recalled.

In all these cases multi-disciplinary and cross-departmental knowledge sharing could have played a mitigating part leading to different outcomes.

[Editor's Note: See related article Social Networking in the Enterprise: What’s the ROI?]