Introduction - The Cost of Fragmentation
During my experience of advising enterprise technology teams undergoing digital transformation, few leadership challenges have proven more persistent than the curse of fragmented silos strangling productivity, agility and innovation through pockets of disconnected efforts or discordianism. Despite expensive and extensive reorganisation attempts seeking to dismantle barriers through formal restructuring, stubborn divisions between business groups like IT, engineering, product and customer success linger in most established technology providers - dragging down overall capability.
In this article aimed at technology leaders, let's dig deeper into proven techniques leveraging Agile collaboration philosophies to remove friction between siloed departments. Beyond simply team-building workshops or checking a box, we will look at leadership skills enabling genuine cross-functional cooperation, psychological safety, and aligned autonomy - the hallmarks of next-generation business operating models where information flows freely across all departments that cooperate without friction. Yes, the journey requires bravely confronting legacy mentalities that incentivise narrow success over collective outcomes. Despite the challenges, the significant rewards from enterprises working together greatly outweigh the discomfort for leaders dedicated to uniting their teams around a shared mission.
1. Peeling Back Legacy Silos - A Recurring Metaphor
Before detailing solutions, understanding root causes helps frame the severity of the challenge. In my experience across technology organisations struggling with digital transformation programs, a repeated pattern hampers the organisation's potential - rigidly constructed silos anchored in tradition rather than customer value:
IT Infrastructure Focused on Stability
IT teams focused only on keeping systems stable often resist changes, fearing disruption to critical services. However, their outdated technology limits developers' ability to pursue innovations that meet consumer expectations.
Product Obsessed Over Output
Without a broader perspective, product teams may focus too much on competing, leading to wasted efforts on features that the market doesn't want. Meanwhile, they might overlook important backend problems affecting customer adoption and happiness.
Sales Chasing Short-Term Deals
When sales teams are rewarded only for closing deals quickly rather than creating long-term customer value, they may focus on meeting quotas at the cost of lasting customer success.
These situations often occur in groups focused on specific goals, which can overlook the broader cooperation needed for collective success. Thankfully, there are alternatives.
2. Cultivating Aligned Autonomy - A Team of Teams Approach
Rather than forcing collaboration through top-down directives alone, I've found that Agile leadership principles actively nurture group autonomy bounded by system-wide transparency. Leadership establishes compact, cross-functional teams or squads with specific customer outcomes like satisfaction or revenue generation by framing team empowerment through systemic objectives and guiding guardrails rather than micro-management. Technology leaders drive accountability, psychological safety for risk-taking innovation, and local decision initiative, avoiding disengagement that infects micromanaged groups lacking purpose. Intrinsic motivation flourishes when granted a clear line of sight for enterprise goals and autonomy to determine outcomes.
Biweekly sprints and short iterative delivery cycles allow for ongoing improvements and adjustments, unlike hierarchical systems that typically release large projects annually with delays and significant waste due to poor integration of late-stage user feedback. With an iterative approach, leadership maintains system coherence by adjusting guidelines, incentives, and priorities rather than dictating orders through middle managers who are removed from the teams' immediate challenges.
3. Strengthening Bonds - Enabling Safe Vulnerability
More than just making structural changes, creating a culture that promotes psychological safety can enhance teamwork. Technology leaders do this by encouraging participation and embracing imperfection:
Championing Joint Success and Shared Challenges
We establish cultural values based on shared success, not competition between groups, by holding town hall meetings and openly sharing company performance. We celebrate our collective achievements together in a way that honours everyone's contributions.
Celebrating Diversity in Thinking and Backgrounds
It's crucial to embrace diverse ways of thinking from different fields and understand that even extreme opinions can offer insights for making balanced decisions. Encouraging varied perspectives helps generate innovative ideas through healthy debate.
Owning Past Failures and Current Shortcomings
Team members open up about their challenges and mistakes. By responsibly discussing recent project issues, leaders take ownership of systemic problems. This openness fosters trust, psychological safety, and mutual support, lacking in a blame-focused culture.
Led with compassion, technology teams support each other through tough times, becoming more resilient. Over time, this empathy strengthens the organisation's overall resilience.
4. Encouraging Smart Decision-Making
Beyond generating enterprise awareness, consistently practising customer-focused behaviours helps strengthen a business's core, ensuring alignment through regular repetition:
Internalising External Benchmarks
For clients resistant to change, using relatable stories and external analogies can make transformation goals more impactful. For example, explaining the need for cloud modernisation to increase developer speed can be more effective when described with engaging metaphors. Similarly, comparing the adoption of robotic surgery to advancements in patient education helps make the benefits clear and memorable.
Converting Metrics into Community Impact
Basic usage goals often lack meaning for teams that need a sense of purpose. However, when leaders tie these goals to real-world benefits, such as equating vaccine delivery targets to the number of families protected, it greatly motivates healthcare teams. This approach taps into their sense of duty, helping them perform far beyond just meeting numerical targets by connecting their efforts to tangible impacts.
Realigning Incentives to Shared Value
Compensation influences behaviour. However, suppose rewards are only based on sales without considering customer retention. In that case, it can lead to conflicts and a focus on quick deals. However, rewards for the long-term profitability of accounts across different functions encourage a more comprehensive approach to customer care. Success becomes a shared goal, aligning team priorities.
Technology leaders can transform disconnected teams into cohesive units by integrating individual and collective incentives. A shared purpose drives exceptional performance.
Conclusion - Leadership Beyond Hierarchy
Companies with rigid command structures often centralise control, limiting the spread of expertise and authority. However, the successful organisations of tomorrow will move beyond strict organisational structures and the mentality of protecting narrow interests. These future organisations will thrive on collective goals rather than individual stability. Technology leaders must foster a culture of collaboration and shared goals, guided by compassionate leadership that broadens understanding, skills, and connections. Our actions today will shape the resilience of communities that depend on technology in the future. Our collective vision and efforts will determine the path we take. Let's move forward together.
Call to Action
I encourage tech leaders to share their experiences, successful or not, about overcoming difficult collaboration challenges. Describe the strategies you used and the outcomes you achieved. Our bold efforts can shape a future where local actions inspire global improvements.
About the Author
Giles Lindsay is a technology executive, business agility coach, and CEO of Agile Delta Consulting Limited. Giles has a track record in driving digital transformation and technological leadership. He has adeptly scaled high-performing delivery teams across various industries, from nimble startups to leading enterprises. His roles, from CTO or CIO to visionary change agent, have always centred on defining overarching technology strategies and aligning them with organisational objectives.
Giles is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (FBCS), and The Institution of Analysts & Programmers (FIAP). His leadership across the UK and global technology companies has consistently fostered innovation, growth, and adept stakeholder management. With a unique ability to demystify intricate technical concepts, he’s enabled better ways of working across organisations.
Giles’ commitment extends to the literary realm with his book: “Clearly Agile: A Leadership Guide to Business Agility”. This comprehensive guide focuses on embracing Agile principles to effect transformative change in organisations. An ardent advocate for continuous improvement and innovation, Giles is unwaveringly dedicated to creating a business world that prioritises value, inclusivity, and societal advancement.
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gileslindsay/