“Real enterprise value lives between the silos”.

This single comment in a recent discussion lit me up . . .

It articulated something that I continue to experience but have yet to find the right words . . .

The discussion was asking “what specific leadership actions and operating model shifts are required for GCC (or any other service or capability centre) leaders to transition from transactional, cost-focused support hubs to strategic enterprise partners?

Thank you Upender Rao, Deborah Kops and “Dear Deb #3”.

This deceptively simple question is also reasonable to ask of the whole Global Business Services operating model and the GBS leaders themselves, those that form and run the GCCs, SCCs and other centres.

We keep assuming that “AI will change everything”, but this question has nothing to do with AI.

There is an existential debate that sits at the confluence of “getting a seat at the table”, “becoming a true business partner”, “enabling end-to-end processes” and “creating true enterprise value”.

It is more about “earning the right” and “gaining permission” to operate in a way that is clearly focussed on enterprise value creation rather than silo cost efficiencies (which rarely see the light of a P&L) .

My experience is that we “earn the right” and “gain the permission” by proof not pleas . . . .

A mentor once advised me to take the initiative on a particular problem/opportunity that existed in the “blurred lines” of a large international corporation, with the words “Ask for forgiveness, not permission” . . .  This stuck with me, as a way of articulating the critical need to take manageable risk . . .

That’s what hit me about this article. The killer punch of the commentary for me is . . .

“Real enterprise value lives between the silos”

In most organisations, these “blind spots” between the silos are not really “owned” by anyone or any function. They represent a significant opportunity to deliver enterprise value without FOFU or the “fear of being in the wrong lane” (FOWL).  

To paraphrase some key elements of Deborah’s article;

• How do we treat the work that sits between functions?
• Strategic value almost never comes from running a single silo well.
• We need to deliberately take on the messy, cross-functional problems, the ones no single function wants to own.
• AI doesn’t magically turn a transactional focus into a strategic, end-to-end focussed one.
• We need to change the narrative from “look how much faster we process” to “look how we changed the risk profile and enterprise (not silo) economics”.
• Focus on taking accountability for enterprise-level outcomes.
• Without these mindset and focus changes, no amount of AI, talent refresh, or rebranding will get you there.

There’s a difference between being trusted with a task and being trusted with an outcome.

Until the leader takes the risk to make the decisions to be accountable for real outcomes, nothing will change.

“AI isn’t going to solve this … It’s going to expose it”.

Real enterprise value lives between silos, in the “Blind Spots” in end-to-end processes that must be illuminated and acted on. There is substantial financial and operational performance improvement to be had there . .  untapped opportunity!

You can read “Dear Deb #3: On Decision Rights and what AI actually exposes” by Deborah Kops and the APEX GBS Standards Committee here . . . and the related LinkedIn discussion here . . . 

You can view the discussion on “The Blind Spots that Dilute Performance” here . . . 

Thanks for reading . . . 

Real Enterprise Value Lives Between The Silos