I can’t believe no one’s bitten on this on yet, so here goes. Depending on how you look at it, the top image could be nothing but a 3-D version of the silo. No matter how prettily (or messily) those rings seem to intermingle, if they’re closed tubes, they’re still silos. That’s kind of how things seem to work in our central IT organization. There are a few people who seem to have found the secret escape hatch/magic transporter/wall vaporizer that gets them out, but from a systemic perspective things are still pretty walled off, and people often don’t seem *really* communicate. I’ve heard it can happen, though, so I have hope. And in my own organization, I’m working hard on making sure that we have as few walls as possible, and that to the degree possible we can avoid basing our service descriptions to faculty on our internal walls. They could care less – they just want the services!
I’ve always believed in harnessing the power of the silo. If you think about it, humans are shaped kind of like silos. The rings are lsilos where each stands alone but together they present a more powerful entity.They don’t quite interlock, but they do support the entire structure which would fall apart if they didn’t exist.
Of course, this isn’t at all what I had in mind when I posted this–thank you for pointing this out!
Right, faculty could care less who does it or how it gets done, they just want it now. One of the reasons they’re faculty is because they hate bureaucracy.
My organization features me as a bright shining starfish. Several departments that glow a bit. And, thanks to the log-in nature of this blog, a black-hole vortext centered on the key decision-maker in the organization.
Luckily, the second-most key decision-maker has set up a company that can function around that vortex.
The image might look like that pipes thing I used to see on the windows boxes I avoided.
essprit said:
Jul 22, 08 at 5:50 pmI can’t believe no one’s bitten on this on yet, so here goes. Depending on how you look at it, the top image could be nothing but a 3-D version of the silo. No matter how prettily (or messily) those rings seem to intermingle, if they’re closed tubes, they’re still silos. That’s kind of how things seem to work in our central IT organization. There are a few people who seem to have found the secret escape hatch/magic transporter/wall vaporizer that gets them out, but from a systemic perspective things are still pretty walled off, and people often don’t seem *really* communicate. I’ve heard it can happen, though, so I have hope. And in my own organization, I’m working hard on making sure that we have as few walls as possible, and that to the degree possible we can avoid basing our service descriptions to faculty on our internal walls. They could care less – they just want the services!
admin said:
Jul 25, 08 at 5:43 pmI’ve always believed in harnessing the power of the silo. If you think about it, humans are shaped kind of like silos. The rings are lsilos where each stands alone but together they present a more powerful entity.They don’t quite interlock, but they do support the entire structure which would fall apart if they didn’t exist.
Of course, this isn’t at all what I had in mind when I posted this–thank you for pointing this out!
Right, faculty could care less who does it or how it gets done, they just want it now. One of the reasons they’re faculty is because they hate bureaucracy.
g-lo said:
Aug 14, 08 at 4:16 pmMy organization features me as a bright shining starfish. Several departments that glow a bit. And, thanks to the log-in nature of this blog, a black-hole vortext centered on the key decision-maker in the organization.
Luckily, the second-most key decision-maker has set up a company that can function around that vortex.
The image might look like that pipes thing I used to see on the windows boxes I avoided.