The Silo Problem

We separate to understand. Just as we name parts of the body - brain, heart, gut - to study them, we name parts of the organisation. Sales. Operations. Finance. Marketing. Production. People. We break them down to manage them. And somewhere in that process, we forget that it’s the connections between them that make the organism work.

Most leaders know silos are a problem. Few make a sustained effort to dismantle them.
Cross-boundary leadership is messy. It’s relational, not mechanical. It asks for emotional energy, patience, and the courage to engage without authority.

We build relationships vertically because it feels safer - with those who can promote or restrict our career. But the relationships that most determine organisational health are horizontal. And they’re the ones most often neglected.

When departments don’t talk, the customer feels it first. Products launch that no one asked for. Services falter because the left hand doesn’t know the right exists. Teams waste energy solving the same problem in different rooms.

Deloitte reports that 75% of cross-functional teams fail on at least three of five measures: deadlines, budgets, specs, customer expectations, and alignment. Conversely, McKinsey finds that companies with strong cross-functional collaboration are 1.5 times more likely to report revenue growth above 10%.

The message is simple: collaboration isn’t just cultural. It’s commercial. Organisations that learn how to connect across difference don’t just execute better - they innovate faster. They create value categories that siloed teams don’t even notice.

1. Build Bridges Before You Need Them

Connection is a precondition for coordination. Smart leaders invest in cross-functional trust before the next crisis demands it. They treat it as a form of strategic infrastructure.

Try this:

• Schedule a monthly coffee or check-in with a leader from another function

• Swap meeting invites; let each team learn how the other sees the world

• Offer something of value - an idea, an article, an introduction - without expecting return

• Ask for input before decisions are final

Trust builds like compound interest. Small deposits, consistently made, create resilience when disruption comes.

2. Translate Between Worlds

Every domain has its own dialect.
Engineering speaks in specs.
Marketing in stories.
Finance in forecasts.
HR in feelings and frameworks.

Cross-silo leaders don’t have to be fluent everywhere; they just need to be curious translators. They listen for what matters to others, and bridge meaning between them.

Try this:

• Learn the key metrics for one other function this quarter

• Use visuals to integrate perspectives

• Host a “lunch and learn” where teams explain their work - and co-solve something live

Translation builds understanding. Understanding builds alignment.

3. Make Others Look Good

Generosity is the lubricant of collaboration. When leaders share credit, they signal that success is collective. It shifts attention from protection to contribution.

Try this:

• Name your cross-functional partners in presentations

• Send a thank-you that copies their executive leader

• Nominate peers for internal recognition.

• Celebrate joint wins as shared victories

No culture memo can outdo the ripple effects of genuine acknowledgment.

4. Create Safety for What’s Real

Without psychological safety, people perform roles - they don’t collaborate.
Teams that can’t speak candidly default to defending turf.

Try this:

• Begin meetings with what you don’t know

• Ask “What am I missing?” before defending your view

• Share mistakes and the learning they produced

• Celebrate intelligent failures - the kind that move the system forward

Trust doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from being real enough to keep learning together.

Breaking silos is not just organisational work. It’s inner work. It requires leaders to notice the part of themselves invested in separation - the part that optimises for “my team, my budget, my KPIs.”

High-functioning organisations emerge when leaders optimise for the work - for outcomes that matter to the whole system.

That shift starts with self-awareness.

• Know your strengths and triggers

• Invite challenge rather than avoid it

• Understand your ego patterns - and don’t lead from them

At this level, the real work of leadership isn’t strategy. It’s relationship.
And the deepest skill isn’t control. It’s connection.