Gillian Tett
Chairman of the US Editorial Board and America Editor-at-Large, Financial Times
Breaking siloes: sounds like something that can be universally agreed upon. What’s more difficult is actually doing it. A continuous effort that’s equal parts reflection and reinvention, silo-busting is an art of social engineering aligned to a business outcome.
Drawing from vast global experience as a journalist having observed siloes in action and inaction, Gillian Tett knows ‘The Silo Effect' like few others do. As Chairman of the US Editorial Board and America Editor-at-Large of Financial Times, Gillian spots the trends that make the difference between survival and revival. At Confluence, Gillian Tett broke down the approaches to breaking free of the grid, asking CXOs to summon their inner anthropologist and meet their enterprise siloes head-on.
Key Takeaways
Enter the matrix and notice it
We're used to compartmentalization. But at what point does the silo start to make us sluggish? Observing silos, declared and undeclared, is the first step to making a more productive enterprise. To rearrange the dots, first trace them all.
And now for something completely different
Yes, there's an organization tree but what's the alternative? Can you think of taxonomies not in terms of departments but outcomes? Or put together structures based on what the customer wants? Start with the end and build backwards to the cells.
Be an outsider in your own house
Think like you’ve stepped into your company for the very first time, and every day is your first day after a long vacation. Travel physically or mentally to a different place, see a different social order at work, and return inspired to rearrange the boxes around you.
One company’s silo is another's opportunity
The workforce experience is as important as that of customers. Radical simplifcation inside the organization enables more outcomes outside. Instrumenting daily tasks with data and automation will enable leaps in productivity.
Siloes are inevitable, but the issue is whether they master you or you master them.
