An Insight from the Business World
The following is a
self-explanatory comment I sent recently (without the footnotes) to the
moderator of a Harvard Business Review
webinar. The purpose of publishing it is
to underscore the fact that our problem (the topic of this blog) does not spare any
human activity without manifesting itself in it and thus that any effective
solution has to cut across all human activities, including businesses. But as explained in footnote two below, the
starting point of an effective solution must be the world basic education
system. (Reaching this inference was
helped by the experience I gained by having been engaged in development-related
endeavours for the better part of the past 40 years.) (See footnote one of article #13 for the
underlying reason for my reference to a “world” basic education system.)
There is much talk about the “silo effect,” but I’m not sure if
the pundits really understand its nature.**
In my opinion, much of the factors underlying the formation
and endurance of silos are the same as those dealt with on my blog www.rifatafeef.blogspot.com – the
silo phenomenon is only an outcome and a subset of the broader problem of
barriers to effective communication in the highly specialized and thus complex
world in which we live and function today.
The basic argument is as follows: i) humans make sense of
the world based on the information they have in their brains; ii) on average,
those knowledgeable of affairs in a given area would not know much about other
areas; and as a result, iii) those in any given area would be hesitant to
venture into other areas and thus would tend to cocoon themselves – people
usually don’t venture into areas they don’t know about; they would also be
apprehensive of being ridiculed for their shortcomings. Naturally, rivalries, perceived
self-interests, misperceptions, etc. etc., would also play a role in the silo
effect, but their negative impacts would likely be minor compared to those
arising from the basic problem of the lack of common ground and the resulting
lack of meaningful communication and interaction.
Given its importance, it would be worthwhile to
systematically investigate the phenomenon instead of resorting to clichés to
describe it and stop there. I suggest
that you share these thoughts with your editor colleagues and perhaps with HBS
faculty – in addition to competent social psychologists who can enlighten on
the topic;*** in fact, the essence of
the problem is one of social psychology while its outcomes are manifest in the
practical realms of human endeavour, like organizational settings.
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PS: You might want to
refer to the June 13th webinar in which mention was made of the strategy of the
Development Bank of Singapore to provide digital backgrounds to all its
staff. The measure was aimed at
improving the bank’s functioning.
Although I don’t recall “silos” being mentioned in the webinar, that
strategy would contribute to reduce, although not entirely eliminate, the silo
effect – since there are other factors as well that contribute to the
phenomenon; this is not to mention that a "digital background" is only one part of a common language, although a significant part nevertheless. (Any strategy for improving
the functioning of an organization in a complex setting has to take measures to
reduce the silo effect.)
PPS: Of the 16 pieces on the blog, I suggest you focus initially on articles #13 (World Basic Education
System); #15 (in part an email to Professor Jared Diamond); and #16 (comment on
NatGeo program Year Million). [You’ll find more on my background at the end
of the blog, under “About Me.”]
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** The “silo effect” is the tendency for departments of an
organization to work in isolation and not actively cooperate with other
departments – other than at a level they perceive to be minimally
sufficient. Growth and advancement will
be hard to come by in such an organization, and the resulting cumulative
impacts will ultimately lead to its demise, in the same way that any entity
that cannot cope with the stresses it faces will cease to exist; see the first footnote
of article #16 – corporations go bankrupt; species go extinct; nations disintegrate
or are taken over by others stronger than them; and governments are kicked out
of office or overthrown by dictatorships: different labels but equivalent
outcomes. And our problem cuts across
all levels of human activities – individual, family, local community, national,
international.
*** Social psychologists, however, can only illuminate on the
nature of the problem; they can’t solve it.
Although the silo effect arises from human behaviour, it is at the early
stages of a child’s life that behaviours of our concern begin to take root (see
paragraph two of the second part of article #15) and it is only a program as that
outlined in article #13 that can effectively address the problem. The program also focuses on people and not on
settings; this is important, given that people carry around their core traits to
multiple settings, and also since the ways in which they manifest can vary from
setting to setting – for example, the same trait may give rise to different
behaviours at home and at work. Given these
realities, it would be clear that solving our problem is beyond business
organizations, although they could try to understand its nature to improve their functioning.
But articles #13 and #15 make it clear
that world basic education can effectively address our problem – to the extent
to which it is practically possible. Meanwhile,
business organizations can help: i) by raising awareness of the criticality of
the problem; ii) by facilitating funding for getting the program implemented
(see the second part of article #9 for the tentative process suggested); and, most
importantly, iii) by urging those responsible for the formulation of world basic
education policy to face their moral responsibility, since it is they who hold
the key to the solution to our vexing problem and since the ramifications of
the problem are chocking humanity while nothing is being done to rectify it –
see the first part of article #15, and the above, for some aspects of this. (See also footnote two of article #1, or “Introduction,”
for the strategy envisioned for implementing the program – after it was published
in March 2012, however, the nature of our problem had become clearer and more
delineated, but this would not affect the suggested strategy, given that the
essential concepts remain the same and it was only some expressions describing
them that had changed.)
