When breaking silos becomes the CEO’s business strategy to an $80 Billion Market Capitalisation
Hey, I'm Zina Sarif, the founder and CEO of Yendou. A ClinOps Platform designed to accelerate clinical trials delivery to sites. Each week, I chat with executives from the Life Sciences Industry, to discuss the game of clinical trials, the rising costs, the urge to innovate, the pressure for speed, and how to navigate operational inefficiencies on the road to commercialization. Here, I share with you some nuggets from the room. Make sure you subscribe!
Today, I will share with you the concept of operational silos - their origins and what your company can do to break free from them. All of this will be illustrated through the story of a company that achieved monopolistic success by leveraging the power of "Breaking Silos" and forging connections to gain valuable insights into their company strategy.
Enjoy the read!
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There was a man who lived in an average flat in an average city on an average salary. He needed some extra cash and figured out that renting a room in his flat is a good way to make extra cash. Among all the websites out there, he decided to join Airbnb. Things were going okay, until one day, he had a special guest.
The guest had the habit, hobby, and job of spending nights in Airbnb rooms. Within the realm of ordinary, this time again he had an average night at an average host. What he didn't know was that this host would change the course of his life and how people book travels for the future to come.
The guest was Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb. During breakfast, he went through his routine product feedback exercise with the host. Then the question came: "What can we do to surprise you?" To which the host replied, "You know what! I have a folder where I put all the things I would do if I owned Airbnb."
That folder became Airbnb's product roadmap and played a huge role in helping Airbnb accelerate the Product-Market-Fit race to survival. Looking back, the man wasn't an average host, neither was the night.
The folder. The metaphor.
The folder contains insights that enable a company to gain a competitive advantage and thrive against the odds. The guest represents leadership, while the host represents the users/employees exposed to leadership decisions and business outcomes at a high frequency.
Often, those who execute see the flaws of their leaders, observe the business consequences of their leaders' decisions, and take mental or written notes that they do not communicate because they were never asked, "What can we do to surprise you?"
Sometimes they create workarounds to thrive in a harsh environment. They keep the workarounds to themselves because they were never asked, "What can we do to surprise you?"
The silence becomes silos, and every day, thousands of employees, and stakeholders with folders containing the future of companies leave those companies without ever having shared their insights.
When leaders call McKinsey to join the room
The leadership is lost because things are not going well, but they don't know why. Leadership hires McKinsey or Accenture armies of MBA graduates to figure out why. The consultants spend some time on the ground talking to "a might be the right" people, coming up with insights and offering the leadership folders of potential new roadmaps.
The leadership might implement some of it half-heartedly because deep down, they trust the consultants' expertise in gaining insights but not their experience in building roadmaps. Then, their roadmaps are vague. They lack the granularity of real-world experience and the frustration of doing the work yourself and thinking about it all day, every damn day.
The McKinsey consultants don't have to be surprised. It's like asking a math school teacher, "How can I surprise my child on their birthday?" They might have a good guess, but if I asked my child, I would be right 100% of the time.
Those folders exist! You know how I know? Because I had them myself.
The folders I call mine
During my time at AstraZeneca, I once reached out to the executive team at Clario (ex-ERT Systems) with a message like this: "Hi! I admire your mission, but your product is subpar. I understand the reasons behind it, as those who purchase it are not the primary users. However, the future of a product relies on user feedback. I use and collaborate with those who use your product on a daily basis. Those are the issues, and these are the features you need to consider."
I did it for free. Why? Because I want to live in a world that keeps surprising us.
I had a Veeva Systems folder, a CALYX folder, a Labcorp folder... I enjoyed engaging in exercises such as "If I were this company, what actions would I take to outperform the competition and achieve market dominance?" or "What feature, if incorporated into this software, would exceed expectations?"
That's the weird stuff, I enjoy indulging on.
Today, due diligence agencies hired by prominent shareholders of major vendors and CROs approach me to ask the same question: "What strategic roadmap should this Big CRO pursue to overcome the big 3?" or "What can be done to surprise the world?"
They seek my advice because I possess the folders, and they were astute in finding me, as their job is to go on the hunt for individuals who drafts and collects folders.
The lost AZ folder
During my time at AstraZeneca, I also maintained folders to enhance our ClinOps work. A few of my colleagues did the same, and we formed a network to streamline our tasks. We developed templates, communication strategies, and more.
However, when I departed, no one ever inquired about my folder. Instead, I was told, "You know, Zina, we must accept that we will never achieve the same level of efficiency in site selection again."
Although it was a kind compliment, what I had accomplished was not groundbreaking. I had established systems, and as I left with those systems, no one within the company would ever be aware of them. Soon there was a new hire, that has to refigure it out anew. I kept the folder to myself, not because I was secretive, but because they never asked.
If someone consistently accelerates site selection for my Tier 1 oncology portfolio by 3 months, through manual efforts alone, Be sure, I will do everything to ensure we exhaust all possible insights from them before they leave, like squeezing a lemon.
Btw. It's not just limited to AstraZeneca; every single company I know of, including yours, shares this reality.
So yes, I possess folders, and because I do, and I know none of us are unique, I also realize that there are others in my industry who possess similar folders. Some of these folders are more extensive than I can imagine, and my task is to discover them.
My Hunt for ClinOps Folders
I have one job at Yendou: Finding the folders holders, let them test Yendou and tell me what I should do to surprise them! We gather feedback from targeted functions worldwide. We refrain from discussing company strategy or portfolio; instead, we delve into clinical operation processes and aspirations. Many of these strategists are seasoned executives who have been leading the field for decades. Some of them were instrumental in establishing the targeted operations at major Big Pharma and CROs. They possess a wealth of knowledge within a company sinking in size and the managerial labyrinth they constructed to manage that size.
The knowledge holders are trees. However, big organizations today can no longer see the trees in the dense forest. They lose valuable team members without understanding why. This loss gives rise to silos and hampers internal innovation.
My Job is to find them and translate their ideas to realities, as my objective is to transform operational knowledge into common sense. I firmly believe that this is the only way to overcome Eroom's law.
The people you have and the people you need
I came to the realization that A-players leave, D-players get fired, and companies end up with a base of C- and B- players led by C- and B-players. (I am aware of the exceptions. There are many A-Players, not enough. Often silenced)
It's nearly impossible for a big corporation to be exclusively staffed with A-players. However, today, pharmaceutical companies and CROs are bleeding A-players, resulting in a noticeable decline in clinical operational efficiency. Things are not getting faster.
Here my definition of the different categories of players:
A-players strive for seamless operations and immediate problem-solving.
B-players aim for functional operations and are proactive in communicating issues.
C-players aim to avoid mistakes and simply navigate through the chaos.
D-players attempt to conceal their inefficiencies within inefficient operations.
It's a fact: the current operational efficiency of clinical operations is low. I won't delve into the specific delays and cost numbers here as we are all well aware of them.
When everything is consistently slow and prone to errors, when follow-ups are continuously missed, reports are consistently delayed, site performance remains consistently low, and milestones never achieve timely completion, we must ask ourselves, "Is it us or the people?"
When we struggle to answer this question, the problem always lies with leadership, and the priority becomes identifying individuals with folders and thoroughly reviewing their contents. These individuals are the invisible soldiers of your organization, akin to McKinsey consultants but with a deeper understanding of your business needs and often underappreciated by your business units.
What can a big organization do to eliminate silos, competition, but not itself?
Now that I have informed you about everything we do to ensure operational efficiency becomes a hassle, I owe you a guide on "How to hack the system" and scale innovation even when burdened by necessary managerial layers.
I asked myself, "If I were a BigCorp, what measures would I implement?" and here is my truth:
Hunting for internal folders and empowering their owners
I would request every middle manager to provide me with a list of their top performers. I would arrange 1:1 calls with them to discuss product feedback. In this context, our company is the product.
I would want to understand how they would run the company if they were in my position, what their priorities would be, and why. What do customers say about us? What is the general perception within our organization? What recent company decision do they consider a major mistake, and why? How would they rectify it?
I would organize a Hackathon: The Top Performers Edition, allowing them to build operational processes from scratch.
I would establish a communication platform, whether company-wide or department-wide, that fosters non-hierarchical connections. All employees should be able to connect with anyone at any level and freely exchange ideas.
I would introduce a "Golden Ticket" program, granting top performers the opportunity to work directly with executives, and perhaps even the CEO, for a specific period. This arrangement would enable them to share their insights and ideas effectively.
I would create a "Folder Library" where employees can openly share their insights, ideas, and workarounds with the entire organization. This library should be easily accessible and searchable, encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration.
I would establish a program focused on creative thinking, where top performers can teach other employees on creating knowledge, generating insights, and building expertise.
Few of these initiatives are already implemented by BigPharma, however top performers need permission to allocate FTEs to "over performing at scale" and I will refrain here from commenting the absurdity of it all.
Safeguarding the folders and their owners
Emphasize the importance of understanding employee departures: I would establish a specialized HR section responsible for identifying employee resignations with the sole purpose of understanding their reasons for leaving. These reasons would be collected as metrics to measure their frequency. This data is crucial for identifying organizational risks and allocating resources and expertise to effectively improve retention.
Hold those responsible who fail to inform and mitigate the risk of top-performing employees leaving to start their own businesses or join other companies. Leadership must be promptly notified, and appropriate actions must be taken. To foster a culture of innovation, including potential termination, necessary actions must be taken to prevent communication breakdowns and talent loss.
Every employee is a company health ambassador: I emphasize to my team that every employee is an ambassador of the company. Our priority is to prioritize the health and success of the company. A healthy company creates value for employees, the job market, customers, and public health. Failing to retain the best individuals who can contribute to our success is a failure on all these fronts, and that is unacceptable. We are all accountable for retaining the best people.
Safeguarding the folders when their owners leave
Establishing a venture to invest in A-players turned founders: I would establish a venture that invests in A-players transitioning to become founders. The clinical trial sector has witnessed private venture capital firms becoming more active due to the impact of COVID-19. Lately, many contract research organizations (CROs) lose strategic bids to private VC firms. As a Company we should not succumb to such losses and must invest in former employees turning founders, because companies built by experienced founders tend to excel. The remarkable success of Veeva Systems serves as a testament to this fact!
Supporting A-player talent during challenging times: In the unfortunate event of having to lay off an A-player due to an FDA rejection of a pivotal study and subsequent global crisis, I would proactively provide support. I would connect them with our in-house recruiting agency, which would facilitate their transition to a new company. Why? Because As a leader in an industry you want to always be within reach to the best talents of the industry, who offers loyalty as feature. Be a success enabler, keeps you in the circle.
Conclusion
Today, Brian Chesky - the CEO of AirBnB - a company with $79.76 Billion market capitalisation (23rd June 2023) is still hunting for folders everywhere.
here on Twitter, just 3 weeks ago.
And execute an let them know he is listening and executing:
Experience the host experience himself to design his own folders:
And of course he does bake you cookies
Brian is driven by an exceptional hunger to understand the world he serves with technology.
I was once asked about my perception of the CEO's role, and my response was “to be the highest concentration of knowledge within the company, to find the folders, and, of course, to never stop communicating.”
Through communication, we convey our culture, establish beliefs, and gain, retain, and delight the world. By communicating, we understand the world and help the world understand us. The owners of folders serve as amplifiers of our world's understanding. Thus, finding them should be a top priority. Something AirBnB does the best in B2C.
Every big organization is challenged by the task of finding the folders holders cross all stakeholders, including their employees. This is the fastest road to increase operational efficiency and business impact.
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