A silo can be a beautiful thing — majestic, even, self-contained and essential in its purpose. But silos have earned a bad name in the construction industry.
Organization silos have multiplied exponentially as industry has moved from projects costing in the tens of millions in the 1960s to hugely complex projects costing billions today. Owners, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, architects, engineers and banks all exist within their own silos. The result? Slow and onerous procurement processes, fragmented supply chains, disparate systems between project stakeholders, increased transactional waste and significant inefficiency. Welcome to today’s construction industry!
One common opinion is to eradicate such silos, but breaking down silos is hard. Structural engineers and architects, for example, are unlikely to change. They’re tribes, defined by their culture and expertise. Moreover, the industry needs and respects the many distinct areas of specialization necessary for developing and monitoring capital assets.
The truth is that any system of delivery that doesn’t respect silos is going to fail. Silos should be accepted for what they are, but industry needs to work with and better leverage them.
The first problem with silos is that one often has no idea what’s going on inside. Therefore, windows are needed to peer within and appreciate the work, the effort and the finesse every discipline contributes. This helps avoid the adversarial position of thinking others will control the situation to their advantage.
Let’s say there are windows that can see into those other worlds. The next step is building doors one may walk through to visit those worlds. Wouldn’t it be smart to copy the model of the medical profession, where doctors rotate residencies to understand every specialization and appreciate everyone’s perspectives?
Mobility inside a silo varies tremendously. For example, young people want to join a company and become a project manager within a year, but how long does it take to rise through the ranks? They have to pay their dues. Consequently, stairs inside each silo are also needed so that people have a clear path from the basement to the C-Suite.
Still, accepting silos means accepting that hierarchies are here to stay, both within and across silos. People like to hang out with their peers. The C-Suite hangs with the C-Suite and middle management with middle management. In addition to doors and stairs, one also needs bridges in order to reach counterparts and communicate across silos at the level needed.
Let’s be honest — at times, not everyone wants to be seen working with other silos. "What do you mean you’re hanging out with architects? You’re a contractor! They’ll brainwash and banish you," detractors might say. For this reason, tunnels connecting the silos are also needed to facilitate communication that is not always visible to others.
Projects can be executed in a more collaborative way by connecting and building a community of like-minded companies to deliver more cost-effective and predictable capital projects — across silos — to ensure no one gets hurt financially. It’s about acting more like neighbors than adversaries, and accepting that our cultural silos may not be all that bad.
For more information, visit agpglobal.com or call (281) 779-7652.
