How Collaboration Is a Solution

The main principle behind ROADMENDER is a conviction that the practice of collaboration has reached a point where it has become a discipline increasingly playing a crucial part in the MO of any mature enterprise.  In this blog, Karin Volo presents a neat argument which no doubt will advance the idea of collaboration thinking and process.  As is often repeated by a growing number of business analysts, collaboration is the new competition.  Ms Volo also makes that point almost poetically by her opening argument; “Competition is the old business mindset. Collaboration is taking over”.  READ ON…

Time to get serious about collaboration tools

A few years ago cloud technology was the domain of ICT professionals and most organisations were not quite sure about it, believing that the expensive IT infrastructure they were holding on to was more ‘real’.  Today, it is somewhat similar with many when it comes to understanding the inevitable march of collaboration as the guiding norm in the way we produce value.  This piece really makes it simple for all to understand that collaboration, and also the tools that enable the many facets of its practice, should be taken seriously if an enterprise is intent on being relevant in near future.  READ ON…

London eyes collaboration on pension fund investments

Mark Cobley writes about the way London councils seek to solve one of their challenges through collaboration.  In this instance, the collaboration has brought together a number of London borough councils as a type of collective investment vehicle that allows for flexible investment without taking away key features of each council’s ‘sovereignty’ and is not a legal merger as such.  These kinds of options may not be entirely new in terms of group investment.  A notable feature is the attitude towards collaborative solutions which also take into account legal governance models that work for relatively large number of entities. READ ON…

How Intuit Innovates by Challenging Itself

I really liked this piece by Hal Gregesen from HBR Blog.  Gregersen, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Chaired Professor of Innovation and Leadership at INSEAD, shares the insights he and his colleague Prof Clayton Christensen uncovered after interviewing a number of people about how creative and successful people frame questions; questions that can at times unlock the best path to an innovative solution. One of the people they spoke to was Brad Smith, the CEO of Intuit.  Without revealing too much, here is one of the Smith’s quotes which is at the heart of his approach; “My personal belief is people want to be a part of something greater than themselves. They want to leave a mark. They want to put a dent in the universe. They want to be remembered”.  I think this is a must-read piece.  READ ON…

Make Conflict Collaborative, Not Combative

At the risk of promoting collaboration as some sort of a cure for all ills of a company or enterprise of any kind, this short and sweet management tip taken from “Conflict Strategies for Nice People” by Liane Davey is nevertheless pertinent.  READ ON…

Why Co-Creation Is the Future for All of Us

I didn’t know that almost 60% of the 150 most important economic entities in the world are companies, not countries! This point is shared by Stephanie Schmidt, Managing Director at Ashoka Europe, in this piece published in Forbes, which considers how co-creation may offer a range of solutions, not just for commercial but equally for social and cultural purposes.  The article is a good exploration of how CSR and philanthropy can actually be much stronger strategies for both commercially profit oriented enterprises and the social enterprise sector as a whole.  READ ON…

The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013

2014 is a new year, but there’s still time to reflect on 2013.  The staff at Fast Company have compiled a list of the Most Innovative Companies, which provides an insight into the way some companies deal with the “Age of Flux”. It is indeed an interesting selection across disciplines, industries and countries. When looked at as a whole, the list reveals that innovation is a strategic practice worth perfecting.  READ ON…

The Big Lie of Strategic Planning

Roger L. Martin discusses strategy and reveals some of the very common and yet hard to avoid mistakes that strategists make.  Also explored are some all too familiar ‘comforts traps’.  READ ON…

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