A few years ago, Gail Ursell, head of governance and control at a larger British bank, became so frustrated about the silos pervading not only her bank but also increasingly every financial institution globally, that she made a rather unusual move.
Instead of trying to prove her point by giving endless, convoluted PowerPoint presentations or by hiring a third-party consultant, she initiated a remarkable experiment: she herself became the guinea pig.
Over a six-week period she would embody a case – meaning that she would track a typical case, like a loan application, from the get-go and follow it as it progressed through the bank. She literally carried the case in her hand as it was forwarded and referred (or deferred) to another desk, department or even building.
She would stand in front of a colleague on the 19th floor as they reviewed it, wait for the approval, and replace hitting “send” in Microsoft Outlook with grabbing the file and rushing off to another floor and another review. All, I guess, in the hope that the famous “rubber stamp” of approval would hit her case.
It was tedious, to say the least, but also an eye-opening exercise that enabled her to spot the fissures and breakdowns between departments, functions and people – which in theory should be working like clockwork, but in reality needed its gears oiling.
By the end of her experiment, the problem was strikingly clear. The many people involved, the many departments – the majority of which were less than exuberant about collaborating – and all the red tape had each, in their own way, revealed a little bit of the truth. Gail had gleaned insight that would have been nearly impossible to uncover from within her corner office.
Shortly thereafter, her institution rolled out an entirely new process that cut the typical one-and-half-month case time down to less than a week. The silos that once defined this part of the bank’s operation had begun to topple, and the enormous degree of internal and external frustrations had begun to melt away.
a handful of customers actually complained that the case management time was shortened so much
Her experiment illustrates an alternative way of breaking down silos, addressing nonsense, and cutting through the BS. A process developed by talented people within the bank designed to vacuum up all the irrationalities and convert them into simple, straightforward series of actions.
Among Gail’s key learnings was a need to create empathy; or rather, the importance of it. As financial institutions themselves grow – which naturally comes with added levels of protection, governance, compliance, rules and regulations – so do their complexities. In fact, at times, these layers of complexity grow so extensive that they become the primary focus of the organisation. One could say that the focus becomes “inside-out” rather than “outside-in”.
What Gail and her bank proved was that by taking simple steps and placing oneself in another’s shoes – or, in this situation, joining a case on its journey through the system – supplies invaluable insight into the reality, and how that reality can be transformed.
For Gail’s bank, it worked – perhaps even too well. As Gail later revealed to me, a handful of customers actually complained that the case management time was shortened so much: they believed their case could not have been properly handled in such a brief span of time.
All cases were properly managed. Little did the bank’s customers know that the detours and roundabouts associated with their cases were indicative of failures of the past – not the present. And all because one person had decided to raise their voice.
Martin Lindstrom is the author of The Ministry of Common Sense and the founder of Lindstrom Company, a business transformation group.
