It's about a mission!
A front-page article in the January 2, 2011 Boston Sunday Globe gave me a perfect springboard to address one of the reasons why so many professional service firms aren't working harder to erase their functional silos. "A Big Experiment in Big Science" describes the integrated approach of the Broad Institute, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biomedical research center. Read the article if you want to get a good picture about how this institution uniquely overlaps its programs, projects, and platforms with the research interests of core faculty and partner institutions. This is silo-busting at its best.
How does this example pertain to professional service firms? After all, many professional service firms are breaking down their internal barriers; they are becoming more effective in making marketplace gains; they are adding value to clients.
But why is silo-busting so hard?
The difference is in the "mission." And without a mission, what's the point of trying to become more effective in succeeding in the marketplace? The Broad Institute has a simple purpose: improve human health -- cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and so much more. There's a real reason to work together differently.
But can professional service firms find a similarly compelling reason (mission, purpose) to work together differently, in an integrated way?
We've seen it happen with IBM's "Smarter Planet" initiative. What a fantastic cross-service-line initiative: creating a compelling reason for its people to engage with clients differently, serve them differently, with a new promise for mutual benefit.
If you are someone who works at a law firm, accounting firm, architecture firm, management consulting firm (or any other PSF): what ultimate benefit can your enterprise bring to its clients through a larger, more meaningful purpose? What would make you glad to get out of bed in the morning and want to work with current and new colleagues in a new way?
It's about that compelling mission. Build it.
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