How To Foster Big-Picture Innovation In A Fragmented Organization

This expert opinion by Andrea Olson, CEO of Pragmadik, was originally published on Inc.com.

Innovation isn’t just about launching new products or adopting the latest technology. It’s about connecting dots that others don’t see across functions, customer experiences, and markets. However, in a siloed organization, those dots rarely even get in the same room. 

Too often, teams operate in isolation. Marketing doesn’t talk to product development, sales avoids operations, and customer service is left out of strategic conversations entirely. Each department becomes its own echo chamber, focused on short-term KPIs and internal wins rather than cross-functional impact. While these silos may create operational clarity, they kill big-picture thinking. 

The Cost Of Siloed Thinking 

Silos limit visibility. Without understanding what’s happening upstream or downstream, teams miss out on the full context. This leads to duplication of effort, misaligned initiatives, and innovation that’s narrow instead of transformative. 

For example, product development may design features customers didn’t ask for because no one talked to front-line staff. Another example, marketing may launch a campaign that overpromises what operations can deliver. Innovation becomes reactive, tactical, and safe when it should be strategic, bold, and integrated. 

The instinct is often to restructure—merging departments, flattening hierarchies, or assigning cross-functional teams. But the real fix starts with how people are incentivized. If leaders are rewarded only for departmental performance, they’ll optimize their own corner of the business. 

Breaking Down Silos 

Breaking down silos isn’t about blowing up org charts—it’s about getting everyone to focus on the same thing. Most innovation efforts fail not because people aren’t capable, but because they’re working toward different priorities. 

Instead of jumping straight to brainstorming or cross-functional teams, start by defining the central objective clearly and simply: What specific problem is the organization trying to solve, and why does it matter? Not a generic mission statement, but a tangible challenge with measurable impact. 

Once that core focus is established, the next step is clarity—making sure every team understands how their work connects to that broader objective. When marketing, product, sales, and operations are all steering toward the same destination, innovation becomes aligned by design. It’s not about forcing collaboration—it’s about making it the most efficient path to progress. 

Collaboration Drives Innovation

Throwing people into the same room doesn’t break up silos—it just makes them politely ignore each other. What drives collaboration is shared ownership of a meaningful problem. 

Give teams a complex challenge that requires cross-functional input to solve, like reducing customer churn, accelerating time-to-market, or improving retention. Make sure no one team can solve it alone. This forces different perspectives into play, uncovers hidden constraints, and sparks lateral thinking—the birthplace of breakthrough innovation. 

Innovation needs exposure to different data sets, voices, and ideas. Build systems that encourage knowledge sharing across teams. Regular cross-department meetings, transparent dashboards, internal showcases of wins and lessons learned—these are all small shifts that add up to a more connected culture. 

Innovation Doesn’t Happen In Isolation 

Big-picture innovation thrives when teams see beyond their walls, care about outcomes beyond their own, and have the incentives to think bigger than their department. Breaking silos isn’t about tearing down org charts—it’s about building new habits, shared goals, and trust. 

Because no one team sees the whole picture—but together, they can create something no single silo ever could.