There's also the ground at the bottom of the silos
connecting them. I think communication happens there as
well in many cases.
Silos emerge because communication is a O(n^2) problem.
No business for more than a few people could survive if it
didn't divide and conquer. Increasing the communication
between silos usually involves creating lots of liaison type
positions, which will mostly be seen seen as fat to be cut
when times get tough.
Silos are kind of like a greedy algorithm. You trade a
suboptimal solution for one that can be cheaply computed.
They won't really be broken down until someone has a
sub-linear way to scale organizations that works in the
general case.
This photo sparked my thinking regarding silos and the so-called gap between IT and lines of business.
The notion that IT and the business speak different languages is such a well-worn cliché that it’s almost unbearable to discuss. Nonetheless, perhaps the cliché is so worn precisely because it expresses a common truth with which we are all familiar.
In this metaphorical representation of information silos, there is a small bridge at the top signifying some communication happening at the most senior level in an organization. Aside from that, the two business units just do not talk.
Does this scenario ring true for you? Please share your experiences with information silos and IT / business alignment.
[Photo by Michael Krigsman.]
