Your org chart lies to you. Those neat boxes and lines suggest a machine where work flows predictably from one function to the next. But watch what actually happens when a customer complaint lands. It bounces between sales, operations, and finance. Each department optimizes for its own metrics. The customer waits.
This disconnect kills companies. Not because the people are wrong, but because the structure is.
Silos emerge from a reasonable instinct: put skilled people together. Accountants work with accountants. Engineers cluster with engineers. The logic feels sound because specialization drives efficiency. But efficiency within a function means nothing if the system fails. A finance team that closes books in three days creates zero value if operations can't get the data they need to make decisions.
The trap is subtle. You hire good people, give them clear responsibilities, and watch them build walls. Not out of malice. Out of focus. They're doing exactly what you asked, just not what you needed.
Every business is a system of interconnected parts. Change one element and ripples spread everywhere. Hire a new salesperson and suddenly fulfillment is underwater. Upgrade your technology and watch your training costs spike. Most founders think in functions. They ask: "How do I fix sales?" Wrong question. The right question: "How does work actually flow through my company, and where does it break?"
Org charts show reporting relationships. They don't show who actually makes decisions. That invisible architecture determines whether your company moves fast or drowns in meetings. Most founders hold too many decisions too long. They complain about being bottlenecks while refusing to push authority down. The fix isn't delegation training. It's clarity. Write down which decisions you must make, which you want input on, and which you never want to see again.
Large companies use RACI charts after they've already lost control. Small companies can build it right from the start. For every significant action, define who's responsible, who's accountable, who gets consulted, and who gets informed. This prevents the wasted hire. You know exactly what role you need before you post the job.
The most sustainable organizations are built around how work naturally flows, not how executives imagine it should. Watch your company for a week. Who actually talks to whom? Where do requests get stuck? These patterns reveal your real operating model. Build your paths where the deer trails already exist instead of forcing everyone onto roads they'll ignore anyway.
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