Breaking Silos

The above visual is one that I've used before in different contexts.  This is a bit of a random thought, but I've been observing some of our Flash/Ajax developers working feverishly over the past few days.  There's been a lot of activity here lately and the developers have been working on each others projects.  It's not an assembly line.  Each touches a part of the project—a piece of the code while another works on other parts.  Sometimes it's at the same time.  Other times it's not.  No one has clear ownership, bugs come up and are taken down one by one.  People leave their cubes to go help someone else who's hit a wall.  IM's, e-mails, and impromptu "meetings" happen in rapid fashion, unplanned and spontaneously.  Territories don't exist—the goal of making the launch date is everything.  It's a shared goal—a purpose.  QA includes not only links that work correctly but animations and design assets looking just right.  Execution and fine-tuning happen simultaneously.  It's organic.  It's collaborative.  It works.

Tip for all the executives out there.  Get out of your offices every once in a while and go to where the action is.  If you find yourself working in silos—ask yourself why this is.  If our people in the trenches can work this way—so can we.

Comments

[Raimo van der Klein]

Ever thought that we are changing matter?

From solid(structures) to Liquids(networks) to gas(organic Adhocracy)

[Gavin Heaton]

I am experimenting with Twitter in a team environment similar to the one you are suggesting. Interesting ...!

[DA]

Raimo,

That is a very clever way of looking at it.

Gavin, cool to hear that you are using Twitter as a collaboration tool!

[Adam]

Lack of ownership means a lack of responsibility which equals lack of trust and ultimately lack of reward - no matter what levels of success.

This is just basic business: What gets measured gets done!

And remember, good business is all about controlling costs. Those evil silo overseers are just watching their own backs. Nothing wrong with that. I bet you don't have to handle budgets and time plans.

Want to work a truly collaborative environment?

Down-size. Get out of those lumpen agencies. Work in small teams. Share success and rewards between less people. It's the future, I swear.

Of course, you still have the problem of individual greed. Oh, and the whining.

God, please stop the whining!

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