How do we prevent departmental managers from weaponizing the Accountability Chart and Level 10 Meeting™ formats to build silos instead of cross-departmental collaboration as we roll EOS® down the company?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you roll EOS® down to your departmental teams, managers often experience a sudden surge of ownership over their specific seats. While this clarity is highly valuable, it can sometimes backfire if managers begin using their departmental Accountability Charts and Level 10 Meetings™ to build protective walls around their teams, refusing to collaborate across department lines.

To prevent these silos, you must emphasize that the Accountability Chart is designed to facilitate flow, not to establish territory. Every seat exists to support the overall company V/TO® and core focus.

First, ensure that your departmental Level 10 Meetings™ do not become isolated islands. When cross-departmental issues arise, they must be solved using IDS® with input from all affected areas. If a department head notices a recurring issue that stems from another department, they should not handle it in isolation. Instead, it must be escalated to the leadership team Issues List or solved directly between the two department heads in a Same Page Meeting™ or collaborative session.

Second, check your Scorecards. If a department's weekly metrics are green but the company's overall high-level metrics are red, those departmental metrics are likely vanity metrics. Ensure that every department's goals and Rocks are directly linked to supporting the company's larger objectives. True alignment means no department can claim success if the company as a whole is failing to achieve its target.