Working in Silos

My classmate Dana wrote about how organizations can end up working in silos rather than as a group and it sure makes me think. I found myself likening what she said to my own organization. Our organization is a non-profit that is a part of almost 30 other national non-profits. 

For many many years, these organizations and the network they promote had become stale and they had taken advantage of the non-competitive market. That changed with more and more technological advancements. More innovation has forced these non-profits and the network they support to come to terms with competition. Many are having trouble with these technological innovations and keeping up.

My organization has been working hard to grow and be agile enough to work within and achieve success with the changing landscape. This has been tough for many of our employees. Many of our employees have been a part of the organization for decades. 

My two departmental managers have both been at the organization for eight years, and they are considered rookies. I just have three years of time with the organization and I'm still on the bubble. Naturally, these employees with decades of experience had grown to like the pace of work and the way things were done. They do not like growth. It has been difficult to orient them to the pace, style, and type of business that our leaders feel is necessary to remain relevant and (non) profitable, so to speak. 

Talking about silos, there were plenty in this organization. These silos actually made things run smoothly . . . processes were ingrained, regular, and independent of other departmental processes. It made for an easy and stress-free environment to remain in the silo and work within it without worrying about the world outside the silo. I used to visit my grandfather's farm as a child and there was an abandoned grain silo in the field. I'll admit, it was secure and comfortable to be inside that silo, and the world and its troubles seemed far away. The noises were dulled by the concrete exterior, and the motions and movements around the farm were blocked by the sides. Looking up I could see the clouds and the sky, but only through the circle hole in the top of the old silo. 

Back to my organization's employees . . . I can see why they liked their silos. Now we are forcing them to bust out of those silos. We aren't even asking them or coaxing them out, we are pulling them out by the hand from a place that they've come to enjoy. I can understand their hesitancy. But, I can also understand why it must be done, especially as we look around and see our competition losing customers, other councils going out of business or losing employees, and private competition growing and trying to gain a solid foothold into our market. Silos might be worthwhile and can have their benefits, but losing them takes bravery and work, but ultimately it must be done.