Living From Silos

I know that I am not along and you hear it every week... “We need to be more transparent!” But in reality all we see are people who are operating and doing their business from a “silo”... so much for that idea, of transparency.   Believe it or not, people working from and within a “silo mentality” have been around a long time.  It’s nothing new and as long as it has value and is useful the concept and practice will continue.  Transparency and getting people, a company, agency, church or organization out of a set mode or way of doing things is hard to achieve.  Just trust me on that one. 

I attend a lot of meetings, and believe me... and it all seems the same, people are present and only a few ideas, a question or too... if any emerge.  It is as if people have been briefed beforehand not to say anything, given a day off to attend, part of their job description, learned how to play the kind of game or brought in only to make the meeting bigger than it really should be.  Then it dawns on me that nearly all ideas that come to light are coming from people who live, work and play in a particular “silo.”  Then I hear those words... we want all people to share their thoughts and be “transparent” today!  Then it comes to me... “How can you ask people to be transparent... when everyone here is from a “silo”? 

Although the term is more related to a facility or building that if part of a farming operation.  On a farm a “silo” is where grain or silage is stored for future use in feeding farm animals or to sell to other producers.  The silo is also a place to protect what has been produced on the farm from outside elements.  So the term “silo” offers a clear contrasting picture of what is happening each day in our communities and cities.  People are operating from a “silo” mentality.  When you think of it in terms of a company, business, agency, organization, or governmental service, it is how we develop and protect our ideas and values.  It is a way to protect the brand and to keep the details of the company business from being stolen by competitors.   

So I don’t say I am going to a meeting where innovation and new ideas are going to be flowing like “milk and honey” out from everywhere and everyone... but I say I am going to a meeting of “silo” thinkers, who are more interested in keeping the system like it is, rather than improving it for the future.  It is hard to break away and become transparent, when all that is being done is coming from those living and earning a living from a “silo.” Getting out of a “silo” way of thinking is harder than you think or believe, and if you are outside those “silo” systems then you are really in for a rude awaking.       

What do you think?