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INaturalist: Break Down Silos Tool

Inaturalist, an online portal for sharing natural observations, uses a tree of life image to help people learn taxonomy.This image is a tool for helping people organize species by plant categories(botany), fungus, and animal(zoology) groupings.In a tree of life we see how species groups are separated and united. The “tree” image shows how all living things are connected. Imagine if organizations had a similar image that visualized individual teams AND the whole. Could an image like this be used as a tool for breaking down silos?

The Silo Mentality is defined as a mindset present when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same company. This type of mentality will reduce efficiency in the overall operation, reduce morale, and may contribute to the demise of a productive company culture.

While business jargon comes and goes, the “silo” is one term that is well documented and noticed by managers and employees. It is often referred to as interdepartmental “turf wars”. Silos result in teams competing against each other rather than working towards a common goal. [Read more…]

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Seductive Powers of Quick and Easy vs The Art of Waiting

Sue Monk Kidd writes “quick and easy are magical words with enormous seductive powers. Advertisers know that if they put them on a product it sells better.”  New Year’s resolutions abound with quick and easy approaches. How many times have you seen articles on “quick ways to lose weight”. And for those of you stuck in traffic jams, it’s time you learn about the zipper merge, the key to quick merging.

We are all about efficiency and speed. Kidd illustrates this with her quote “pole vaulting is so much more alluring than crawling.” Yet, are there times when we need to build our skills in the art of waiting?

There are clearly times when choosing the easier, less time consuming approach is best. For example, zipper merges are now being recommended in many congested traffic areas.Yet, they are complicated because of our feelings about the polite vs rude driver label. Does this sound familiar?  You are driving along in the center lane on a traffic-filled highway, and the left lane is ending in a few hundred yards, due to construction. Some “polite” drivers in that left lane put their blinkers on right away, and move over as soon as someone lets them in. The “rude” drivers zip to the end of their lane–passing you and many other drivers in the center lane. Then they merge in as soon as they can, effectively cutting in front of you and other center-lane drivers in the process.  Growls, fists, and fingers emerge as the “polite” drivers curse the rude drivers. However, in a recent study, the majority of drivers won’t use the zipper approach because they don’t want to be labeled the rude driver.

Efficiency is part of our work and home lives. And, as the zipper lane demonstrates, there are times where perhaps self reflection uncovers something critical about the art of waiting. [Read more…]