I am reading from the book the Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan. They point out that one of the flaws of some management systems is the fragmentation of accountability. That struck a chord.
I have often seen managers and departments work only for their silos.
– “We don’t need to know how they will deliver”.
– “We don’t know if they can implement timely “.
– “Who cares if operations, has the capacity”.
– “Our job is to sell then they need to deliver”.
Does anybody else see anything wrong with those comments?
A big part of my success over the years is my desire and my insistence on making sure that all of the pieces of what I sold were in alignment and we were pursuing the same ends. If as a salesman if I make a bad deal that operations has to live with and they end up cutting corners to make ends meet, who loses; the customer. When the customer loses who else loses…
When I can’t refer buyers to satisfied clients my selling becomes more difficult. As it becomes more difficult my commissions decline and well, need I say more. But it is not really about the commissions. It’s about doing the right thing.
As workers, Daniel Pink and others, have demonstrated that we are about more than the money we are also about Mastery and about being part of something bigger. For me that something bigger is the idea that my customers have received good value from our transaction and that they feel good about the decision. (In other words they feel good about me 
).
If I fail to get the various parts of my offering into integrity the customer loses, I lose, the company loses, and everybody loses. Why bother? Anna Bernasek in her book the Economics of Integrity points out that when the market loses trust in the integrity of a system, it becomes harder to produce. less money and business flows through the system it withers and dies.
– So are your departments silos or are they working together for the integrated whole?
– What one thing can you do today to break down a silo?
Take Good Care
