Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors

by Patrick Lencioni, Eric Conger (Read by)

Overview

"Silos" are organizations' vertical structures-but the word has become synonymous with barriers to workplace effectiveness and connotes deep political infighting. Silos devastate organizations, kill productivity, push good people out the door, and jeopardize the achievement of corporate goals. They cause stress, exasperation, and disappointment by forcing employees to fight bloody, unwinnable battles with people who should be teammates.

Like his other fables, SILOS, POLITICS, & TURF WARS is fiction in realistic form, involving not one, but three organizations, all struggling to eliminate their silos and bridge a sense of alignment back in place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593978600
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	02/21/2006
Edition description:	Unabridged
Pages:	4
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Patrick Lencioni is the founder and president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational effectiveness. His clients include Novell, Avnet, Excite@home, and the Make-A-Wish-Foundation. He is the author of The Five Temptations of a CEO, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting.

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Table of Contents

Introduction vii

The Fable

Part One: Entrepreneurial Ambition 3

Part Two: Roller Coaster 19

Part Three: Rally 77

Part Four: Moments of Truth 139

The Theory

Introduction to Silos 175

Components of the Model 178

Identifying a Thematic Goal 187

Case Studies 189

Managing and Organizing Around the Thematic Goal 197

Thematic Goals and Long-Term Context 202

Making Matrix Organizations Work 205

Getting Started 207

Acknowledgments 209

About the Author 211

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Lencioni's theory around alignment is simple and powerful, and could apply to any type of organization, large or small."
--Gary C. Kelly, vice chairman and chief executive officer, Southwest Airlines Co.

"An incisive and insightful look at how companies can recognize and remedy infighting.  The tone of Patrick’s writing is as warm and readable as the advice itself is sound."
--Michael A. George, chief marketing officer, Dell Inc.

"Lencioni is a master at creating real and tangible company alignment. We're using these principles to rally our people around building a global brand.  Huge applause from our entire organization."
--Brian Scudamore, founder & CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

Editorial Reviews

Marketing won't speak to engineering. Sales thinks production hogs the budget. Front desk believes back room's lazy. These sorts of turf wars, which turn outwardly unified companies into groupings of uncommunicative "silos," are the stuff of management lore. According to bestselling author Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team), "they waste resources, kill productivity and jeopardize the achievement of goals"—they also drive workers into tizzies of frustration. Like his previous books, Lencioni's latest addresses the management problem through a fictional story; this one revolves around a self-employed consultant named Jude, who has to dismantle silos at an upscale hotel, a technology company and a hospital. Split into two sections, Lencioni's book first shows Jude discovering a solution to silos, then summarizes Jude's lessons into a strategy that readers can apply to any business. Lencioni's proposal is so full of common sense—namely, end turf wars by getting departments to rally around a common goal—that managers will be eager to apply it themselves. Just as refreshing is Lencioni's use of character and plot, which is far above average for the business genre. As sympathetic as Jude is, he makes Lencioni's management lessons memorable. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006)

"...an excellent book that nearly everyone will identify with and benefit from..." (Personnel Today, May 2006)

"... an engaging, simplistic read, and one that reinforced many impressions about the ‘problems within’ and strategies to solve them.” (The British Journal Of Administrative Management, February/March 07)

"...if your business experiences politics... this book may be for you."  (EN, the magazine for entrepreneurs, January 2008)

From the Publisher