Mike Petrusky used The Breakfast Club to describe workplace silos in our 2018 crossover episode. People carry status and role boundaries into work, then facilities, HR, IT, corporate real estate, and leadership approach the same workplace from separate rooms.
That separation matters when a technology touches all of them. The person who selects a tool may not be the person who uses, supports, or trains others on it.
A partner learns the workplace before shaping the offer
Mike described service providers as partners and educators rather than people who lead with a product. His advice was to spend time in the customer's world, learn the problems they face, and shape the service around those needs.
He gave the opposite approach a plain image: forcing a square peg into a round hole. The criticism was aimed at product-first selling in the 2018 conversation, not at every provider or recommendation.
Listening has to cross the functional lines
In our conversation, I connected better questions to learning another person's discipline. Mike Petrusky then described listening as difficult because people want to insert their own agenda while someone else is speaking.
In workplace selection, that listening needs to cross functions. Facilities may understand operations, IT may understand integration and support, HR may understand employee needs, and leadership may hold the organizational direction. Mike's point was that the groups need a shared conversation about what the organization needs before they choose the technology.
Selection is followed by implementation and training
Near the end of the episode, Mike warned against walking into an exhibit hall, seeing a polished demonstration, and choosing the tool before understanding its fit. He said, “the first step needs to be listening to the people within your organization,” then connected selection to leadership direction, implementation, change management, project management, and training.
For one upcoming technology decision, write the need in language each affected function can recognize. Then identify who selects, who uses, who supports, and who will review the rollout. The product discussion has a better boundary once those responsibilities are visible.
The demo can show what a tool does. The listening process tells the team whether that capability belongs in this workplace decision.
