Don’t Break Down Silos, Bend Them

Conventional wisdom tells us that the best way to deal with organizational silos is simply to break them. Whether it’s the inward focus of HR departments or the “tower vision” that blinds leaders to surrounding issues and events, silos must be torn down – or so they say.

The problem with extreme thinking is that it’s rarely correct. On a functional basis, silos do a lot of good: They provide service specialization. They create defined work structures. And they foster a deep sense of socialization and interaction among colleagues. Hardly a reason to bring out the wrecking ball.

Instead of trying to break silos, we should bendthem. A more effective approach is to find the touch points that run among different departments and begin to form what I call “genius bonds” – networked connections that speed the flow of information and bring together the very best ideas and talents across teams. In this framework, specialized units or departments retain their unique function within the organization, just arched differently. The goal is not to eliminate silos but to address the problems they cause: lack of collaboration, drags in communication, and diminished trust.

In The Feedback Fix, I show how companies who managed to bend silos achieve breakthrough success. In 2011, when Nest Labs started developing its first learning thermostat, it knew that it had to do more than just produce a marvel of artificial intelligence capable of saving people energy. It needed to sell consumers on the merits of energy conservation.

So Nest assembled a cross-functional team made up of engineers, designers and marketing executives to link all stages of product design. These traditionally siloed departments leaned into each other’s space and brought specialized knowledge to bear during critical stages of development.

This process of “creative abrasion” set the conditions for ideas to be tested and challenged productively. For their part, the engineers succeeded in designing a device that taught itself to raise and lower temperatures based on homeowners’ schedules. The marketers infused the concept with the Nest Leaf, a clever display feature that rewarded homeowners for choosing an energy-saving temperature.

The engineers mastered the intricacies of AI. The marketers leveraged the human need for recognition and control. Working together, these departments formed genius bonds that gave rise to a product smart enough to make a difference, and sexy enough that people actually wanted to buy it. Instead of hoarding talent in silos, Nest sparked collaboration among teams.

Silo-bending can also lead to better service outcomes. In 2008, the Cleveland Clinic – arguably one of the world’s best healthcare centers – got a devastating prognosis: negative patient feedback. Patients gave the hospital low marks for room cleanliness, noise levels and doctor-nurse communication. Hospital floors with as many as three separate specialties and staffs operated in silos. In effect, there was a wide gap between the level of care and how patients experienced that care during their hospital stay.

That began to change once Cleveland Clinic instituted a practice of weekly huddles among caregivers. Doctors, nurses, case managers, head of housekeeping assembled to discuss patients, raise concerns, and coordinate care-giving measures.