In an organization that operates in silos, it's easy for teams to get wrapped up in their own minutia. Each department—engineering, product, design, marketing—becomes hyper-focused on its own rituals, metrics, and definitions of success. This focus, which often starts as healthy "ownership," can quickly become a barrier.
When departments become intractable, simple cross-functional work escalates to politics. Resentment builds. You start to hear phrases like, "That's not our decision" or "We did our part, the rest is on them."
When you see these patterns develop, it is a critical sign that your organizational structure is failing your mission.
The "Ownership" Trap
The problem isn't that people are malicious; it's that the system is incentivizing the wrong behavior. When a team's identity is tied to a restrictive definition of their role, they are discouraged from thinking beyond its borders.
- An engineer might see a deep flaw in the product design but won't say anything because it's not "their job."
- A product manager might hand down a requirement without understanding the technical trade-offs, seeing it as "engineering's problem" to solve.
This is the "Ownership Trap": a state where everyone "owning" their small piece of the puzzle prevents anyone from owning the customer's outcome.
The Leader as the Barrier-Breaker
As a leader, your most important function in a siloed environment is to become the primary barrier-breaker. You must relentlessly and publicly shift the team's focus from vertical, departmental goals to horizontal, customer-centric goals.
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Define and Evangelize the Real Goal: Get teams onboard to understand what the ultimate goals are as a unit. The goal is not "to ship 5 features" or "to refactor the database." The goal is "to reduce user churn by 10%" or "to improve new user activation."
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Promote Healthy Debate and Empathy: Encourage teams to understand each other's roles and challenges. Host cross-functional demos or planning sessions where an engineer has to explain the why behind a technical constraint to a marketer. This builds mutual respect and shared understanding.
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Encourage Contributions Beyond Job Titles: Let team members know how their expertise contributes to the overall success, and that they should not box themselves into only those definitions. Some of the best product insights come from engineers; some of the best technical solutions come from designers who understand the user's true intent.
Giving Up Ownership to Win
This process requires a cultural shift. You must create an environment where giving up exclusive "ownership" of a domain is seen as a freeing act, not a loss of power.
When teams are aligned on a common, customer-facing goal, they stop protecting their turf and start collaborating to solve the real problem. This is where true innovation happens—not in the isolated excellence of one department, but in the diverse, cross-functional inputs from a team that trusts each other enough to share ideas freely.