We are the best. F*** the rest!

Everything works very well as a team! But working with other teams is difficult and fraught with conflict. One's own achievements are valorised, those of others are devalued. 

Background

Demarcation creates identity. It is easier to strengthen your own views than to engage with those who think differently. Does the superior reinforce the demarcation or does he or she allow other points of view? It is often also a matter of avoiding interfaces so that you can concentrate on your own work as much as possible. After all, liaising with other departments can be tedious and time-consuming.


If the manager ignores this silo formation, the team members are satisfied in the short term. But only until the moment when it becomes clear that the teams have been working at cross-purposes and the recriminations are hardening the fronts between them. 


Antidote

Practise closing ranks with your peers in other departments. You don't have to agree on how to solve an issue. You just have to agree that you have to solve it together.


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Source

Lippmann, Eric (2018). Handbook of Applied Psychology for Managers: Leadership Expertise and Leadership Knowledge.