24/11/2025
The Silent Meeting That Cost Us Our Best Idea.
Sarah looked around the Zoom grid. Another quarterly planning meeting. Another chorus of "no notes from me" and muted microphones.
Just six months ago, they'd lost Alicia, a brilliant junior developer. Her exit interview stung: "I felt like my ideas didn't matter. It's just easier to keep my head down."
That was the cost. But the symptom was in this meeting right now. Silence. The kind that smothers innovation.
The marketing team was blaming engineering for delays. Engineering was pointing fingers at sales for "unrealistic promises." They were all talented, but they weren't a team. They were a collection of individuals protecting their own turf, and it was slowly strangling their growth.
Sarah knew another generic "team lunch" wouldn't cut it. They needed a reset.
We introduced Sarah's team to "The Phoenix Project," a business simulation that wasn't about vague theories. It was a mirror.
In one intense, immersive day, they lived their dysfunction. The silos crumbled because they had to—the simulation forced marketing, engineering, and sales to share resources and information to survive.
And something magical happened. Mark, the quiet data analyst, proposed a simple process change that saved the "company" hours of work. For the first time, everyone had to listen. He wasn't just "Mark in the corner"; he was the hero.
That was the spark. Back in the office, the change was palpable.
The next planning meeting wasn't silent. It was a debate, a brainstorm, a collaborative energy they hadn't felt in years. Mark now speaks up first. They have a shared language and a renewed sense of "us."
The "silo mentality" didn't just fade; it was replaced by a culture of collective problem-solving.
Your team's breakthrough is waiting on the other side of a story they can actually be part of.
Stop watching the slow decline. Start writing your turnaround story.
Connect with us if you need help to identify the one key shift that could unlock your team's potential.
