The act of placing ideas, concepts, people in pigeon holes as a way of categorizing them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeonholing

in German: Schubladendenken

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Note added at 7 mins (2010-03-09 12:35:53 GMT)
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stereotyped

komt vaker voor. Of: silo thinking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_silo


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Note added at 15 mins (2010-03-09 12:43:57 GMT)
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http://financecareers.about.com/b/2009/11/04/silo-mentality....
Silo Mentality

Gillian Tett's column in the October 9 Financial Times deals with an old problem in so many companies, and not just in the financial services industry: silo mentalities. That is, narrow tunnel vision that afflicts managers, especially when their incentive systems push them to maximize their own organizations' results (even to create personal fiefdoms run for their own benefit), sometimes to the detriment of the company as a whole.

Also, as Tett notes, silo mentality has been at the root of many regulatory failures of late. Regulatory agencies have their own narrow concerns and political interests (as do the members of their staffs), and often fail (or refuse) to see the big picture. Result: big problems slip between the cracks.

http://workingtobealeader.com/2009/12/10/how-do-you-reduce-s...
Silo thinking in followers means that instead of looking out to the horizon, employees see the walls of the job description, the risks of speaking up, and the fear of going out of their comfort zones to explore unknown territory. They’ll share ideas with peers but won’t speak up at meetings or with their managers.

The influence of their corporate climate, consequences of making a mistake in front of others, and their own ‘mental training’ are just some reasons for their ‘silo’ thinking. It could be age – never being asked before for creative ideas – or conditioning over the years by being told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it instead of being empowered to individualize their work. Or the fact that people don’t want to expand for fear of the repercussions of what new activities they might be asked to participant in or that they would have to move out of their usual role to take on leadership themselves of an initiative.

My client consistently strives to inspire, model creative thinking, and provide opportunities for staff input. She is persistent in efforts to overcome her staff’s ‘silo thinking’ and resistance to jump barriers. However, with each subtle shift in behavior from individuals, my client gains confidence to continue her efforts to engage her staff in barrier jumping behavior.

see the broader spectrum

(yes, I am aware that with my third option I might be accused of having made a moral judgement, but without more context I thought, what the heck...)

I'm pretty sure my first reaction is the right one in this case.

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Note added at 6 mins (2010-03-09 12:35:31 GMT)
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http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokjesdenken

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Note added at 8 hrs (2010-03-09 21:16:11 GMT)
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Thanks Sabina!

We 've used the phrase 'lateral thinking' for exactly the opposite. So if you can rephrase the dutch so that lateral thinking (out of hte box, creative, non traditional etc.) fits , this would be generally understood.