In Monday’s Blog we addressed the issue of Tribalism – recognizable as unions, professional associations, special interest groups and silo behavior in organizations, resulting from division in departments and change. Less recognizable, and not dealt with today is cliques as a form of tribalism. Whatever form tribalism takes place in, left unattended or ignored, it can be an insidious drain on the organization, its’ people, and its’ resources.
Today we focus on the silo grouping that can manifest “Tribalism- mine vs. ours”. While easy to recognize, it’s a challenge to deal with because it is a result of management decisions. In an attempt to improve organizational performance, organizations restructure, and very often the law of unintended consequences takes over. (By that we mean that the expected result does not happen and performance actually gets worse. Like a chronic disease, such behavior is debilitating to the organization and causes dis-ease with the employees. And actually, chronic reorganization is one sign of a failing company.)
Here are 5 Tips for executives to mitigate tribalism created by silos:
- First, understand your market, the company’s competitive position in the market and what can be done to improve competitive performance to best position your company. (Many leaders miss this first step and jump to #2. This is critical to align your company to market opportunity – which should relate to your mission and vision and serve to align your people.)
- Second, understand what is or is not working now in the company (under it’s current state) and why
o Is it people, processes, technology or some other contributor?
- Third, design an organizational structure that best addresses the market and organizational performance issues identified above
- Fourth, identify candidates for leadership positions within the new structure, by looking at their performance profile, including:
o Ability to work in and with teams
o Ability to share credit and recognition
o Ability to adjust to changing situations
- Fifth, design meaningful and effective compensation and incentive systems that focus on and reward working cooperatively and collaboratively.
Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest
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