Did you happen to see the piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, “To Break Typecast, Know the signals you may be sending”? (“The Jungle” column, by Erin White, p. B6). In case you missed it, let me sum up Ms. White’s advice. If you’ve been typecast (say as “just an accountant”), get a makeover and all will be well. Seriously! What an appallingly superficial bit of advice!

So, let’s talk typecast and breakout strategy for real! Best advice – prevent it before it happens to you. How???
- Be the person who takes your group’s message to the staff meeting in another department.
- Ask the “big picture” questions when you’re talking to colleagues or bosses about an issue.
- Read outside your field, especially general business publications like Business Week, Fortune or The Economist.
- Offer to go on a sales or support call with the field person in your area.

Any of these ideas are likely to be a better career investment than just a makeover! And guess what, if you’ve already been typecast, start doing some of these things immediately. Your next promotion may depend on it!

Now, how about the bigger question. An organization in which people are routinely typecast likely suffers from a serious case of silos. When individuals are typecast, groups probably are too. This means that there are serious barriers to innovation and the free flow of information. Both of those can be deadly for organizational performance.

What to do?

If you are a leader in such an organization, encourage everyone to take the advice above. It will make a start towards revitalizing your whole organization.

For more on how to keep your organization fluid and innovative, email me and I’ll send you a short article with practical advice.

Labels: miscellaneous, silos