The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers

By Gillian Tett

Categories: Business & Money

The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers (2015) is a book by Financial Times journalist Gillian Tett. Tett uses anthropology to show how organizations split into isolated silos that breed blind spots, from banks before the financial crisis to tech and medicine. She also profiles teams that keep expertise without trapping people behind rigid walls.

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• Fareed Zakaria: “This week's book of the week is Gillian Tett's "Silo Effect." If you just heard her, you'll know why this is valuable book. It uses Tett's training as an anthropologist brilliantly to shed light on one of the key problems in any organization, the tendency to hole information, become insular, and close yourself off to the outside world. The examples, all from the private sector, are wonderfully written and give you deep insight into the challenges of overcoming some very natural, deeply ingrained human behaviors.”