Some years ago I read a book by John Kotter that was about how organisations get themselves into and out of trouble.\u00a0 Recently I\u00a0read another book by Patrick Lencioni called “Silos and Politics” which\u00a0carried similar message\u00a0– some successful organisations\u00a0become “unfocussed” and “complacent” to the extent that internal silos and petty politics\u00a0come to\u00a0occupy more time than improvement – the politics and silos\u00a0become\u00a0a self-sustaining\u00a0name-shame-blame-game.\u00a0 John Kotter showed\u00a0that the path out of this unhealthy\u00a0state is to\u00a0realise that organisational survival is at risk – and this\u00a0provides\u00a0a compelling reason to align efforts\u00a0– usually in a dramatic and desperate exercise in organisational survival.\u00a0 The\u00a0term Kotter used was “burning platform” which is somewhat prophetic given\u00a0the\u00a0ecological, economic and political\u00a0catastrophe that is currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0Patrick Lencioni takes a different\u00a0tack on the same problem –\u00a0and concludes that\u00a0organisational silos are the result of the attitudes that filter down from\u00a0the boardroom.\u00a0He advocates looking for the “symptoms” and if\u00a0observed in an organisation then it is a good time to engineer a\u00a0crisis to focus attention on\u00a0delivering one collective, qualitative, and audacious goal – something that the whole organisation will need to collaborate to achieve and one that provides a “win” for everyone.\u00a0 So, before you get sucked into an unhealthy life-and-death crisis look for the early symptoms that indicate the need to\u00a0create a healthy crisis: one that will\u00a0require\u00a0just as much passion and creativity to resolve and which will lead to\u00a0a sustainable breakthrough improvement!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some years ago I read a book by John Kotter that was about how organisations get themselves into and out of trouble.\u00a0 Recently I\u00a0read another book by Patrick Lencioni called “Silos and Politics” which\u00a0carried similar message\u00a0– some successful organisations\u00a0become “unfocussed” and “complacent” to the extent that internal silos and petty politics\u00a0come to\u00a0occupy more time than … <\/p>\n