Many years ago I did some consulting at Telstra and I needed a billing module for their upcoming online gaming platform. Another division had almost the exact thing I needed. I asked my stakeholder if we could reach out and talk to those folks, get a copy of what they'd done and implement with few changes. He almost laughed out loud at the suggestion and told me it would just be far easier to a new one from scratch.
Internal barriers are sometimes far greater than external ones.
I also work in government and my process is this: find the number of the lowest ranked person on the team I need to talk to, and call them directly. Follow the official channels after you have gotten verbal approval.
Internal barriers are sometimes far greater than external ones.
Yeah it's like a law of reverse propinquity in government. Working with a team next to you in the org-chart is completely impossible. Working with people far removed from you in the department is easier. Working with other departments easier still. Working with private firms and other governments easiest of all.
You've never worked at a large enterprise, have you? You'll at most interact with people in your direct product group, which are likely well below 100 people. IME often even below 50.
You're delusional if you think that the people being in the same building changed that whatsoever. And especially if you think that connections across buildings randomly happened without a specific goal.
Sure, you see them in the hallway or in the street, might even nod into their direction if you're feeling particularly social that day... But that's it. And people working in different cities might as well be separate companies.
