Diagnosing and Treating ‘Islitis’ in Organizations: A New Approach

In the realm of organizational behavior, we’ve diagnosed a serious illness called ‘Islitis’. This illness involves the irresistible urge of teams to operate as isolated ‘islands’, rather than seeking enterprise-wide cooperation for the customer’s benefit.

Diagnosis

‘Islitis’ is characterized by a lack of inter-team communication, duplicated efforts, inefficient use of resources, and decreased customer satisfaction due to disjointed service delivery. It’s like a virus that infects the organization, causing it to fragment into isolated units that work independently of each other. This fragmentation hinders the organization’s ability to deliver a unified, seamless experience to its customers.

‘Islitis’ is widespread, especially in? larger organizations and in ecosystems. It is found abundantly in sectors like government, health care, and education, especially in large government institutes, big hospitals, and in universities and business schools. ‘Islitis’ is not hindered by boarders: you’ll find infections in any country across the world.

In today’s interconnected world, teams within an organization are not isolated entities but are part of a complex network of interdependencies. These interdependencies exist not only within the organization but also extend to external entities such as suppliers, partners, and customers in the supply chain and broader business ecosystem. 'Islitis' tends to stifle the required cooperation, immobilizing the patient and preventing optimal movement in the economy. This can lead to a breakdown in the flow of information, resources, and services between teams and their external counterparts.

Furthermore, ‘Islitis’ can disrupt the organization’s ability to respond effectively to changes in the business ecosystem. In an interconnected ecosystem, changes in one part of the ecosystem can have ripple effects throughout the system. If teams are operating in isolation, they may be unaware of these changes and unable to respond effectively.

The diagnosis of ‘Islitis’ must take into account the broader network of interdependencies in which teams operate. It’s not just about improving communication and collaboration within teams, but also about strengthening the connections between teams or organizations and the rest of the business ecosystem. This requires a shift in mindset from seeing teams as isolated ‘islands’ to seeing them as interconnected nodes in a network of relationships. Only then can the organization truly overcome ‘Islitis’ and deliver a unified, seamless experience to its customers.

Potential Causes

Several factors contribute to ‘Islitis’. A significant cause is the influence of consultants who promote only the use of best practices to set up the organization. Best practices specify the symptoms of the management system. A focus on these symptoms will not cure the patient. As usual, a sustainable solution requires a focus on the heart of the system, representing the cause.

Middle managers desiring to behave as ‘kings’ can also exacerbate the effects of ‘Islitis’. They may prioritize their own team’s success over the organization’s collective goals, fostering a silo mentality.

The culture of equating bigger teams and higher salaries with promotion can also fuel ‘Islitis’. This perspective can discourage collaboration, as individuals and teams tend to value their individual interests over the enterprise result.

Another contributing factor to ‘Islitis’ is the technology focus of modern management and experts. In many organizations, there is a tendency to jump straight to the exciting world of technology without first establishing a solid management architecture for the sustainable creation of compatible solutions. Architects tend to be designers, leaving the governance and assurance of the architectural principles, definitions, and building blocks to coincidence. This technology-first approach often overlooks the potential of systems thinking. Examples abound: organizations tend to expect better performance just by reorganizing, by replacing a tool, or by replacing a best practice framework with its successor. In doing so, they violate a fundamental law of systems thinking: sustainable improvements can only be realized through the integral improvement of all essential components of the system.

Without a clear management architecture, teams may lack a common reference to guide their actions and decisions. This can lead to inconsistencies and conflicts, as each team follows its own path without considering the impact on the organization as a whole.

Moreover, the focus on technology can sometimes overshadow the human aspect of organizations. Teams are not just collections of technologies and processes, but groups of people with diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives. Ignoring this human element can lead to a lack of empathy and understanding between teams, further fueling the ‘Islitis’ condition.

Therefore, to prevent ‘Islitis’, it’s crucial for organizations to balance their focus on technology with a strong emphasis on management architecture, governance, and the human aspect of teams. Only then can they foster a culture of collaboration and unity that benefits the entire organization and its customers.

Traditional treatment is not enough

When ‘Islitis’ becomes a pandemic within an organization or business ecosystem, it requires a strategic approach.

• Leadership intervention is crucial. Leaders must acknowledge the issue, communicate its impact, and commit to change. They need to set the tone for the organization, modeling the kind of collaborative behavior they want to see in their teams. Unfortunately, true leadership on service value creation in the C-level regions of large organizations is rare medicine.
• Clear communication channels should be established, and collaboration should be promoted through a cross-functional approach. This collaboration can help break down the walls between teams, encouraging them to work together towards a common goal. Unfortunately, even potentially powerful medicines like a process management focus or a DevOps organization structure have limited effects on the disease, as their application is not consistent over the enterprise.
• Incentives for cooperative behavior can motivate teams to work together. These could include recognition programs, bonuses, or other rewards for teams that demonstrate effective collaboration. A more powerful medicine could be found in a methodical approach as demonstrated with OBM – Organizational Behavior Management. At the end of the day, it’s always about how people are taking care of the work.
• Training and development initiatives can equip employees with the necessary skills for effective collaboration. These could include workshops on teamwork, communication, and conflict resolution, as well as training on specific collaboration tools and technologies. Unfortunately, most of these training programs are based on old thinking and lack (also) the structure of a methodical approach rooted in new thinking about enterprise service management.
• Lastly, a change management strategy can help employees adapt to the new collaborative work culture. This could involve regular check-ins to monitor progress, address concerns, and provide support as needed. Unfortunately, these strategies are also based on the traditional approaches of providers that focus on the outside symptoms instead of the inside cause of the 'Islitis' disease. And when these providers apply their most powerful business model – complexity – the approach will not cure the patient.

Enhanced treatment

But there’s hope. After decades of research, a new cure was developed. The USM method provides a standardized management system for service organizations, aimed at methodically improving their organization, processes, technology and services - focusing on business results rather than individual teams. The USM method can be applied to any domain, such as IT, facilities, government, or healthcare, in an enterprise service management strategy. USM is a revolutionary application of enhanced treatment of ‘Islitis’, by means of:

• Standardizing the organization’s routines: The USM method defines only five processes and eight workflows that cover all routines of service management, such as planning, delivery, support, and improvement. By using these standardized routines in a simplified and unique management system, service organizations can reduce complexity, increase efficiency, and cure the condition of ‘Islitis’ patients.
• Optimizing the organization’s integration: USM helps service organizations to align their organization, processes, and technology with their service goals and customer needs - based on a systems thinking approach. By optimizing the integration of these elements, service organizations can enhance their capabilities, performance, and innovation, avoiding the effects of ‘Islitis’.
• Applying best practices: USM is based on the principles of systems thinking, service science, and cybernetics, which are effective and efficient for managing complex systems. Based on this solid fundament, the USM method also supports the adoption of any combination of best practices, such as ITIL 3 or 4, COBIT, ISO27000, or any other, that are relevant for the local business domain. This means, USM can be combined with any selection of best practices, enhancing the sustainable effect of applying the involved guidance.
• Complying with external requirements: USM enables service organizations to easily meet the standards and regulations that apply to their domain, such as ISO27001, ISO41001, or COBIT. The USM deployment toolkit, used by USM professionals, provides cross-references that allows service organizations to pass any common audit against these requirements, ensuring their compliance and credibility in treating ‘Islitis’.

By applying the USM method, service organizations can improve their service management system and deliver enhanced treatment for their ‘Islitis’ suffering. USM is easy to learn and use, and can be supported by various tools and experts. For more information, you can visit the USM Wiki.

I must admit that it took some effort to guide Copilot delivering the final result, but I think it was worth while :-)