Boundless

Transform your organization by making silos a thing of the past

In Boundless, two leaders in transformation and customer success deliver an inspiring and exciting new approach to succeeding in an increasingly decentralized and digital-first world. In the book, you’ll learn how to demolish organizational silos once and for all, allowing resources to flow across networks, ecosystems, and communities. The authors explain the seven principles underlying their unique and effective “Boundless” paradigm: connection, integration, decentralization, mobility, continuity, autonomy, and shared success.

Walking you through the blueprint for transformative, resilient business success, Boundless also offers:

• Strategies for mapping the Boundless principles to key technological advances, including digital platforms, blockchain, AI, robotics, cloud computing, and more
• Ways to achieve the operational, organizational, and technological shifts necessary to succeed in an entirely transformed world
• Tools for combatting the natural tendency of employees to accumulate and protect resources within company silos

An invaluable resource for managers, executives, directors, and other business leaders, Boundless will also earn a place in the libraries of founders, entrepreneurs, and consultants who seek to create an enduring competitive advantage for themselves or their clients.

Preface xi

Our Journey to Boundless xii

Our Continued Journey Together xvi

Introduction Boundless: A New Mindset for Unlimited

Business Success 1

Change in n-Dimensions 7

The Boundless Model 10

Chapter 1 Silos Kill! The Limitations of “Acquire and Retain” 19

Silo Principles 23

Impact and Reach of Silos 27

Problems with the Silo Mindset 28

Silos at the Extreme 31

Chapter 2 The Anti-Silo: The Boundless Alternative 33

The Boundless Principles 35

The Boundless Model in Action: Case Studies 47

Chapter 3 Connection: Relationships | Ecosystems | Sensing 55

Types of Connections 57

Relationships 61

Business Ecosystems 68

The Power of Sense 76

Chapter 4 Distribution: Decentralizing Technologies | Remote = Local | Edges > Centers 81

COVID-19 and the Definition of Normal 83

Decentralizing Technologies 88

Remote = Local 90

Edges > Centers 94

Chapter 5 Integration: Aligned Purpose + Value/s | Orchestration + Choreography | Circularity 99

Alignment 101

Orchestration and Choreography 107

Circularity 115

Integration, Connection, and Alignment at Salesforce 120

Chapter 6 Autonomy: AI | Learning | Identity 125

Meanings of Autonomy 127

AI and Autonomy 133

Identity and Autonomy 136

Tomorrow’s Symbiotic Autonomy 142

Chapter 7 Mobility: Flow | Mobile Technologies | Environments 143

Flow in Action 145

Mobile Technology 150

Flow at Work 152

Chapter 8 Continuity: Process Flow | Circulation | Mindset and Language 157

Process Flow 159

Living Systems and Circulation 171

The Language of Continuity 175

Chapter 9 Shared Success: Experiences | Technologies | Business Models 177

Boundless Experiences 182

Boundless Technologies 183

Boundless Business Models 184

Chapter 10 Becoming Boundless: Mindset | Operating Model | Relationships 191

Leadership Mindset 194

Metaphors and Language 197

The Boundless Operating Model 199

Relationship Strategy 206

Becoming Boundless 209

In Conclusion 215

Acknowledgments 217

About the Authors 219

References 221

Index 231

HENRY KING leads a firm-wide Salesforce initiative to define the model for current and future success. He has over 15 years’ experience working in the innovation and design thinking space, working with firms like Deloitte Digital, Accenture, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

VALA AFSHAR is an award-winning inventor, author, podcaster, columnist, and speaker in the fields of digital business transformation, leadership, digital marketing, customer service, and new emerging technologies. He is the Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce.

SILOS KILL COMPANIES. They’ve always been a drag on growth, but the liabilities they create have only become more pronounced as the world becomes more connected, fast-moving, and innovative. Despite this, silos remain stubbornly persistent in most companies around the globe, stifling energy and reducing adaptability.

In Boundless, a team of innovative digital and design thinking veterans delivers a new mindset and design paradigm for a newly decentralized and digital-first world. The authors show you how to optimize your company, not for the accumulation and protection of resources within controlled environments (silos), but rather for the exact opposite. You’ll learn how to create a situation in which resources flow freely across networks, ecosystems, and communities, unlocking unheard-of opportunities and potential in your firm.

The book provides leaders and employees within your organization the tools and partners they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving marketplace. You’ll discover the seven principles of the Boundless paradigm, including Connection, Integration, Decentralization, Mobility, Continuity, Autonomy, and Holistic Success. You’ll also find out how each of these principles maps to a crucial technological advance, like digital platforms, blockchain and decentralized finance, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and autonomous systems, cloud computing, social networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), immersive tech, application programming interfaces (APIs), and more.

Perfect for managers, executives, directors, and other business leaders seeking new strategies for flexibility, adaptability, and innovation in their organizations, Boundless will also prove invaluable to product leaders and other creative professionals who want to help build the companies they always dreamed of being a part of.

Praise for Boundless

“Tear down those walls. That’s what Reagan said to Gorbachev. And that’s the invitation of Henry King and Vala Afshar in Boundless. If you want to disrupt as an organization, tear down your silo mindset. Boundless is an intriguing, well-written treatise, one you won’t easily forget.”
—WHITNEY JOHNSON, CEO, Disruption Advisors; Thinkers50, top ten management thinker; Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Smart Growth

“Businesses still operating with ‘silo mindsets’ are in serious trouble. Boundless shows us a new path forward and a way to transcend traditional business models. The Boundless framework is powerful, unique, and rooted in a vision of shared success for all.”
—DORIE CLARK, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game; executive education faculty, Columbia Business School

“Boundless is a groundbreaking book that offers a powerful new paradigm for organizations and leaders, one that shifts from a conventional ‘siloed’ mindset to one that unleashes the true potential of people working together. I’m excited to implement these revolutionary principles into my leadership approach at Dale Carnegie. Thank you, Vala and Henry, for the gift of Boundless.”
—JOE HART, President and CEO, Dale Carnegie Training; Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author of Take Command

“One of the biggest challenges people and businesses face during their transformational journeys is a siloed mindset and strategy. Boundless shows the paths to an alternative new mindset, business operating model, and strategy that is based on seven design principles aimed at optimizing flow of value and shared success for all.”
—PAUL DAUGHERTY, Group Chief Executive, Technology; CTO, Accenture

“Leaders know the rules of business have changed dramatically. Boundless creates a prescriptive road map for how to enable a modern organization for success. It’s time to give up your dogma about what you think makes organizations successful and embrace this kind of modern thinking.”
—CRAWFORD DEL PRETE, President, IDC

“Boundless addresses the number one issue plaguing organizational success, a silo mindset, and business strategy that minimizes full potential for growth and shared success. Boundless is more than a business guide; in fact, this is a mindset, metaphor, and operating model for relationship transformation and an organization’s future success.”
—R. “RAY” WANG, Founder and CEO, Constellation Research