Anyone who has worked in an organisation, small, medium or large, will have almost certainly experienced silo mentalities. A classic symptom is when departments or groups do not want to share information or knowledge with other individuals in the same company. It doesn't mean individuals are not doing, in their minds, the best they can, but they are doing it within the boundaries of their own little empires. It is anti systems thinking because it follows the false assumption that if my little empire does well and all the other little empires follow suit, the company, i.e. the sum of the little empires, will prosper. Well sorry, the whole is not the sum of the parts. If you get things right, it's greater than the sum of the parts but with silos, it's considerably less. Each little empire is a silo and it thrives because people feel comfortable interacting within the boundaries of the silo and they feel threatened by any attempt to draw them, their knowledge and information out of those boundaries. There have been a plethora of corporate fix-it programmes aimed at breaking down silos, including visions, missions, common values, goals........, which look good on PowerPoint presentations but, from my experience, rarely seem to have much impact in the bowels of the organisation.
Silos can destroy companies.
Let's now turn to countries and as an example, the UK. Although I watch the political antics from afar, I am appalled by what I see. The rise of nationalism, spearheaded by parties like UKIP and SNP, is an example of silo thinking on a frightening scale. Also what amounts to anti immigration speeches by the prime minister, David Cameron, perpetuates the Little England, silo mentality. It's all predicated on some false premise of ownership of a country rather than, at any point in time, a collection of individuals who happen to be residing within a territory with historically defined boundaries. That collection of individuals was formed by migration of the species and thus immigration. It has evolved and will continue to evolve, by migration and immigration. Nobody 'owns' the country, it was there for billions of years before the existence of homo sapiens. The continuing evolution of the population through migration and immigration, provides diversity and invigoration without which, the country would stagnate and die.
Silos can destroy countries.
There's a common factor in the silo mentality. The clue is in the word 'mentality', which means 'way of thinking'. People think, so the common factor is the person. Yes that's you and me mate! We are all silos. We each have a range of behaviours that exhibit, to varying degrees, a lack of openness, selfishness, not working for the common good, etc. So it's hardly surprising that when lots of 'mini silos' get together, common attributes attract each other and 'maxi silos' are reinforced. What does this do for society? Well it certainly damages it. The strange thing is that when I analyse my own behaviour, I often feel much better when I force (and sometimes it does take a bit of force) myself to be altruistic, yet it doesn't come naturally. A simple example is giving money to people who regrettably for them, need to beg in the street.
Silos can destroy communities.
So what should we do? Well I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you wish to change the world start with yourself.
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