Silo and Project Management

I was in a project management meeting today and inevitably the phrase “working in silo” came up. I was then reminded of the book that I read a few years ago, simply titled Silo. I think Amazon or Netflix has turned it into a movie, but I haven’t seen it. I still remember reading the book though.

It was about a population of people who lived underground, in a silo, where the top of the silo sits just above the ground. The story began with the sheriff having some kind of problem, and then committed suicide (or was he murdered? I am not sure). Anyways a new sheriff needs to be chosen so the mayor goes up and down the silo, looking for a suitable candidate. It is quite interesting reading how this fictional society is described, complete with its social structure, economic and technological system as well as the psychological and culture of the population, having to live in a confined space for generations. The book plods along and is veryyyy long (not Gone-With-The-Wind long, but Harry-Potter-7th-book long) so most readers might feel it is a bit boring but I liked it. It was believable.

I can’t tell the ending without spoiling the story, but I can say that in the end it does echo a bit of project management, where the saying is that every work that is done in silo is doomed to fail. But like in the book, there are proponents saying that they have managed to survive for decades by keeping to themselves, so why is there a need to bother with the outside world. In short, is silo that bad? The story continues into a saga of three books, and in the third book it shows that not only a small number but actually quite a lot of people subscribe to the idea of keeping to themselves, and living in silo.

So is working in silo bad? Textbook answer, yes. But there is still the benefit of deep work that needs a certain level of exclusion (I am mixing up the aspect of working in silo with working in an open/closed space, as you can still work in silo while working in an open space), one that requires a bit of tunnel vision. You can be connected and communicating at work, but I think this process is mutually exclusive to the thinking process. It is like when you are talking about a difficult subject, you need to stop to think a bit; when you are working on a complicated issue, you need to step back and mull about it a bit.

I guess what I am saying is you need that balance 🤣

Wikipedia on Silo the book.

Thank you for reading.