Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying The Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors

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3 Sentence Summary

Silos, politics and turf wars are combatted by unifying your organization around a common sense of purpose. Develop a time-bound thematic goal, and then support the goal with shared, qualitative objectives. In this entertaining fable, Lencioni gives us a useful framework for driving company alignment.

5 Key Takeaways

1. Silos evolve due to lack of leadership.
2. Align the entire organization under one thematic goal.
3. Use defining objectives to give actionable context to the thematic goal.
4. You need standard operating objectives too, but don’t use them as a rallying cry to unify your team.
5. Communicate how daily metrics are connected to the overall big picture.

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars Summary

Silos

• Silos are nothing more than the barriers that exist between departments within an organization.
• Silos cause people who are supposed to be on the same team to work against one another.
• Silos rise up not because of what executives are doing purposefully but rather because of what they are failing to do: provide themselves and their employees with a compelling context for working together.
• As employees notice their colleagues in other divisions repeatedly moving in different directions, they begin to wonder why they aren’t on board. Over time, their confusion turns into disappointment, which eventually becomes resentment – even hostility – toward their supposed teammates.

Thematic Goal

• A thematic goal is a single, qualitative focus that is shared by the entire leadership team – and ultimately, by the entire organization – that applies for only a specified time period.
• A thematic goal is a simple and powerful way for leaders to create a common sense of purpose and context for interdependency.
• It is the top priority.
• It’s the bridge between the long term vision and the tactical objectives.
• It makes the vision more tangible and it gives the tactical objectives more context.
• Only one thematic goal can exist during any given time period.
• The thematic goal is not a number, and it is not necessarily measurable. It is a general statement of a desired accomplishment.
• It must be accomplished in a corresponding time frame.
• It must be a shared goal by everyone on the leadership team, regardless of their expertise or interest.

Defining Objectives

• Defining objectives give actionable context to the thematic goal.
• They can be qualitative. Don’t feel tempted to overquantify.
• Defining objectives are shared by the entire leadership team. Everyone must assume a very real sense of accountability and responsibility for achieving them.
• Defining objectives are time-bound. When the thematic goal changes, so do the defining objectives.

Standard Operating Objectives

• Standard operating objectives are ongoing activities that do not go away from period to period.
• Examples include:
  • Revenue and expenses
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Market share
  • Quality
• Don’t use standard operating objectives as your rallying cry. Acknowledge it for what it is – a critical but standard operating objective.

Metrics

• Metrics are what we use to measure progress towards an objective (standard and defining).
• No employee will be as motivated to hit the numbers if they don’t understand how they fit into the bigger picture.
• This is why you need the thematic goal and the underlying objectives.
• Not every metric must be quantifiable. Some metrics can be dates by which an activity will be completed.
• Do not artificially assign specific numbers to an unmeasurable activity.

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