Us vs. Them

Larry Borsato — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:19:12 -0800

A few years ago venture capitalist Rick Segal made an interesting point about the "Us vs. Them" syndrome -- the perceived divide between groups such as employees ("us") and management ("them") that seems so prevalent in union environments. Years later, despite Rick's cautionary tale, this situation still exists.

The Us vs. Them mentality occurs in frequently in fast-growing technology companies, and can actually take one of several forms:

Management versus employees

It can become poisonous quickly if management doesn't realize what is happening and deal with it.

Department versus department

In a growing company, you typically start to hear R&D complaining about what Sales promises to customers, Sales complaining about R&D's inability to deliver, and everyone complains about Product Management. And Technical Support is left to deal with the customer complaints.

Company versus customers

As companies grow and staff become further removed from direct customer contact, they begin to see the customer as a problem. At the same time, the customer is frustrated -- they just want to see their problem solved as they were promised. They are generally understanding if told the truth directly, rather than receiving excuses.

I didn't have to read about these situations. I noticed each of them in several companies, where different groups are essentially sealed off from each other, as if they were independent silos. Sadly, I've even participated in them.

This behavior typically results from a fear of poor job performance, and the belief that information is power. Smart companies notice this silo behavior early on, and they take steps to correct it. It is especially critical that startup companies keep this from taking root early on in their growth.

Patrick Lencioni, author of Silos, Politics and Turf Wars, says that rather than punish negative behavior, leaders need to provide the context and content for rallying people around a common goal, and then get out of the way in order to eliminate silos.

Methodologies such as Agile Development recognize this, and work to create integrated teams which break down organizational silos. But the best solution is regular conversations among members of the different groups. And no, I don't mean email -- face to face if possible, or phone if not.

Silo behavior can destroy an organization by making it impossible to reach business goals or targets. Recognizing the problem, and applying strong leadership, defining common goals, and rewarding co-operation can keep that behavior from becoming toxic.

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Us vs. Them