Pushing Boundaries

There’s a concept known as Dunbar’s number, which suggests that the ideal size for a cohesive organization is around 150 people. Beyond that, the ability of members to maintain stable relationships declines sharply. In essence, as organizations grow beyond this size, they must develop infrastructure to manage and administer the increasing complexity and number of relationships. This infrastructure allows them to deliver objectives efficiently, effectively, and at scale.

Typically, this happens through the formation of silos; separating production processes or service delivery units into distinct groups, each with their own objectives that, ideally, contribute to the overarching organizational mission. At least, that’s the theory.

The Challenge with Silos

This is where challenges begin. Silos tend to become insular. Over time, communication between them weakens, and work starts to get duplicated as groups fill real and perceived gaps created by interdependencies. Then, when it comes time to bring all the pieces together, mismatches emerge between components, leading to inefficiencies. It’s a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing or worse, forgetting that the left hand exists.

The common rallying cry is: “We need to break down the silos!” But let’s think about that for a moment. If you dismantle an organization’s structural infrastructure, you risk introducing chaos, because self-governance without structure does not scale beyond a certain size.

The real problem isn’t that silos exist, it’s that they often prevent ideas, information, and collaboration from flowing freely across the organization. Instead of dismantling silos, a better approach is to make their walls more permeable, allowing information, expertise, and innovation to move easily across boundaries while keeping essential administrative structures intact.

Advantages of Permeability

Today, many organizations view permeability not as eroding silos but as creating dynamic networks or ecosystems. This approach aligns naturally with agile methodologies, fostering cross-functional collaboration, continuous feedback loops, and adaptability.

When implemented thoughtfully, permeable silos offer several benefits:

• Increased diversity in thinking and ideation

• Reduction in duplicated work across the organization

• Greater cohesion across teams and units through improved collaboration

• More transparent and efficient use of organizational resources

While not an exhaustive list, these advantages show the potential value of reframing (not removing) silos.

How to Start Making Silos Permeable

Start by building platforms and infrastructure to share ideas effectively across the organization. Email won’t cut it. Instead, invest in collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Notion; searchable knowledge bases; and regular sharing events open to everyone. Give people ways to showcase their work, share lessons learned, and highlight emerging practices. Signal that your work and knowledge are open for everyone to contribute to and build upon. This not only improves organizational memory but ensures you leverage existing investments in time, knowledge, and effort.

Equally important, ensure that everyone (across every silo) has a clear line of sight to strategic goals and intent. When individuals understand how their work connects to the broader mission, they are more likely to see relevance in their efforts and engage more deeply, as well as potentially finding innovative and robust approaches to delivering on objectives.

Creating permeable silos isn’t just about information flow; it’s also about fostering inclusive environments where diverse perspectives are welcomed and can contribute meaningfully across boundaries.

Managing the Change Towards Permeability

Resistance is natural when trying to make established silos more permeable. To lead this change effectively, consider focusing on a few key practices:

• Engage early and often: Acknowledge and address concerns with empathy and communicate the purpose and benefits clearly.
• Model collaboration: Demonstrate the cross-silo behaviours you want to see throughout the organization.
• Invest in trust: Create spaces for teams to connect through joint projects, transparent processes, and open dialogue.
• Adapt through continuous improvement: Build feedback loops into your approach to refine practices over time and keep collaboration relevant and effective.

Successfully building permeability requires visible leadership, strong trust across teams, and a commitment to continuous learning. It also demands intentional effort, inclusive cultures, and modern collaboration tools. The payoff in agility, innovation, and workforce engagement is well worth the effort.

Let’s start breaking boundaries, not walls.