Breaking Down Silos with Systems Thinking for Integrated Product/Service Experiences

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, many leaders face a common challenge: how to create seamless product and service experiences that meet their customers’ changing needs. This challenge often isn’t just about innovation—it’s about the way organizations are designed. Teams responsible for products and services frequently operate in silos, leading to fragmented customer experiences and missed opportunities for long-term value.

As Jordan recently pointed out in his post, Why Self-Diagnosing Your Business Problem Might Be Riskier Than You Think, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we understand our problems because we’re close to them. But self-diagnosis often leads to misidentifying the root cause, focusing on the wrong areas, and ultimately wasting resources on ineffective solutions. The same logic applies to how organizations approach product and service experiences: they often can’t see the way the organization itself is part of the problem, because it is the air they breath, the water they swim in.

The Problem: Siloed Teams and Divergent Priorities

In many organizations, product and service teams function independently, each with their own metrics, priorities, and processes. This disconnection can create friction when trying to deliver a cohesive customer experience. Without alignment across teams, organizations struggle to prioritize changes that serve the overall business goals and customer needs.

Here are some key questions to consider as you assess how your organization is currently structured:

• How are your product and service teams organized? Are they aligned around shared goals or working in isolation?
• What metrics are driving decision-making across these teams? Are they focused on short-term wins or long-term customer value?
• How are decisions made about what needs to change in your product, service, or organization? Are all relevant roles involved in those decisions?

The Systems Design Approach

While product and service design are critical, what often gets overlooked is the design of the organization itself. To create truly integrated and sustainable product and service experiences, we need to understand the organization as an interconnected system. This is where systemic design comes in.

Systems thinking offers a powerful framework for diagnosing how an organization operates as a whole, not just in isolated parts. By applying systems design methods, we can map the relationships between different parts of the organization—teams, roles, processes, and culture—and identify how changes in one area can impact the others. This approach enables leaders to design change that addresses the entire system, leading to more cohesive and impactful results.

Systems design also helps us explore questions like:

• How are investments in product and service improvements aligned with overall business objectives?
• What in-house capabilities are available to design and implement change? What external expertise might be needed?
• How do cultural norms and behaviors enable or block progress toward integrated customer experiences?

Designing for Sustainable Change

When we view the organization as a system, we can diagnose not just the symptoms but the underlying structures that need to change in order to create lasting improvements. By taking a systemic approach to organizational design, product, and service development, we can break down silos and create the cohesive experiences that customers are looking for.

As Jordan highlighted in his article, expert diagnosis is key to avoiding costly mistakes. Likewise, systems design allows us to see beyond surface-level problems and unlock value across the entire organization. Before jumping to solutions, business leaders need to ask themselves: how is my organization designed to support the changes we want to make?

We will be sharing more about the methods to tackle the complexity that exists within organizations. For now, I encourage you to start thinking critically about how your organization is structured to deliver not just great products or services, but fully integrated, customer-centric experiences. Because true change isn’t something you fix—it’s something you design.