Roadwork and Strategy

I live on the eastside of Lake Washington, about 20 minutes drive away from downtown Seattle. After spending an evening at a good friend’s graduation party, I headed home, only to find nearly every route to the Bellevue/Redmond area blocked by road construction. Two separate road work projects, probably organized by different teams for different reasons, made access to the eastside nearly impossible. I literally experienced bumper-t0-bumper traffic at 12:30 in the morning. This type of thing happens all the time, when individuals focus on their specific project but fail to grasp the big picture.

I couldn’t help but see the analogy between this roadwork and business strategy. The intentions of both of this projects are beneficial, but their timing couldn’t be worse. Communication within an organization is key here, but its not as easy as it sounds. People have a tendancy to focus on what their personal projects, and only on rare occasions do they look around and see what others are doing. This “silo effect” can be incredibly damaging to a business on multiple levels, including brand image and overall strategy. Redundant projects, negative synergies, and an overall lack of strategy can create all sorts of problems. In this simple case, it makes my commute four times longer. In the worst case, it confuses your customer, drives them away, and gives them a reason to tell their friends to steer clear.