Silos, Politics and Turf Wars

PATRICK LENCIONI is founder and president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational health. As a consultant and keynote speaker, he has worked with thousands of senior executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500s and high-tech start-ups to universities and nonprofits. He is the author of nine nationally recognized books, including the New York Times best-seller The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. You can reach him at The Table Group's web site, www.tablegroup.com For a free downloadable Silo tool, or to sign up for Patrick's newsletter, please visit www.tablegroup.com/silos

• Introduction viiThe FablePart One: Entrepreneurial Ambition 3Part Two: Roller Coaster 19Part Three: Rally 77Part Four: Moments of Truth 139The TheoryIntroduction to Silos 175Components of the Model 178Identifying a Thematic Goal 187Case Studies 189Managing and Organizing Around the Thematic Goal 197Thematic Goals and Long-Term Context 202Making Matrix Organizations Work 205Getting Started 207Acknowledgments 209About the Author 211

Marketing won't speak to engineering. Sales thinks production hogs the budget. Front desk believes back room's lazy. These sorts of turf wars, which turn outwardly unified companies into groupings of uncommunicative "silos," are the stuff of management lore. According to bestselling author Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team), "they waste resources, kill productivity and jeopardize the achievement of goals"—they also drive workers into tizzies of frustration. Like his previous books, Lencioni's latest addresses the management problem through a fictional story; this one revolves around a self-employed consultant named Jude, who has to dismantle silos at an upscale hotel, a technology company and a hospital. Split into two sections, Lencioni's book first shows Jude discovering a solution to silos, then summarizes Jude's lessons into a strategy that readers can apply to any business. Lencioni's proposal is so full of common sense—namely, end turf wars by getting departments to rally around a common goal—that managers will be eager to apply it themselves. Just as refreshing is Lencioni's use of character and plot, which is far above average for the business genre. As sympathetic as Jude is, he makes Lencioni's management lessons memorable. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006) "...an excellent book that nearly everyone will identify with and benefit from..." (Personnel Today, May 2006)"... an engaging, simplistic read, and one that reinforced many impressions about the ‘problems within’ and strategies to solve them.” (The British Journal Of Administrative Management, February/March 07) "...if your business experiences politics... this book may be for you."  (EN, the magazine for entrepreneurs, January 2008)