Think One Team, 2nd Edition

the foundation

From studying and consulting with many different-sized organisations across the business and non-business world, it became clear to me that there were quite distinct differences between the practices of people within silo-afflicted organisations and those of people who acted like one big team.

This experience led to identifying five core practices that distinguish these two types of organisation. Each of these practices has an opposite, or ‘shadow’. For example, ‘share the big picture’ has as its shadow, ‘pursue other agendas’.

think one team	think silos
Share the big picture	Pursue other agendas
Share the reality	Avoid and deny
Share the air	Stifle communication
Share the load	Look after your own turf
Share the wins and losses	Play ‘I win, you lose’

A brief overview of the five practices, or five shares as they’ve come to be known, is outlined below.

• Share the big picture means that everyone and every team understands and shares their part in the bigger picture. That picture may be of the strategic priorities and values, or simply an understanding of what’s happening in the next department. It also includes awareness of the context in which the organisation operates (particularly the threats and opportunities), so that people understand the ‘why’ behind decisions. The shadow, pursue other agendas, is characterised by the individual parts of the organisation pursuing other things that they consider to be more important than the big picture. The ...