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Author Mario Moussa wants you to consider how silos in your workplace hurt business.
Mario Moussa, a Philadelphia-based consultant and academic director of the Wharton School of Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania, has long been interested in workplace silos. His interest grew after he conducted research while co-authoring The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas (Penguin Group, 2007) with G. Richard Shell. Moussa will lead an Executive Education Program on silo busting June 26-27 during the Society for Human Resource Management 62nd Annual Conference & Exposition in San Diego. He is now writing a book, Stalking Mr. Hyde: Why It Is So Hard to Get Things Done, and offers some insight into his work.
What are silos?
Silos are psychological and physical barriers that separate people, business units or locations and prevent people from collaborating with one another. Silos exist within us and our workspaces. As humans, we are self-interested. It's not malicious; we were built to focus on ourselves.
Geography and organizational design can create physical silos that impede information flow. It's hard to learn what someone is doing if they work in another building or another country. But even in small companies, office doors create silos. If I don't see you or interact with you daily, I won't think of you.
How are silos detrimental...
