I recently came across the term ‘collaborative capitalist’, which was in reference to Margaret Heffernan, the author of A Bigger Prize. I have not read the book and so can’t really comment much. But judging by what information is available, it seems that Ms Heffernan makes a critical point of the importance of collaboration as a strategy that adds value to competition. I liked the ‘grand challenge’ kind of call that the author issued, because collaboration should be valued for its enormous capacity. The great Scottish philosopher David Hume remarked in the first of half of the 18^th century that humans have a tendency to judge ideas by comparing them to each other rather than focusing on their intrinsic worth. This week’s selection is a modest attempt to incite more interest in collaboration as a value-laden discipline that every enterprise or individual can benefit from.

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Collaboration and Creativity: When Competition Enters In, Women Check Out

Recent papers have suggested that women improve small working groups and so adding women to a group is a sure-fire way to boost team collaboration and creativity. A new study from Washington University in St. Louis says that is only true when women there is no competition. Force teams to go head to head and the benefits of a female approach evaporate. “Intergroup competition is a double-edged sword that ultimately provides an advantage to groups and units composed predominantly or exclusively of men, while hurting the creativity of groups composed of women,” said Markus Baer, PhD, lead author of the study and associate professor of organizational behavior at Olin Business School…READ ON

Collaboration rules in advertising and marketing

The future of advertising and marketing lies in collaboration, says Jim Faulds, incoming CEO of communications group JWT SA. There is no longer room for individual egos and dictatorial, “monolithic” agencies. Faulds says clients are demanding guidance from agencies to help them navigate an increasingly chaotic marketing environment. He cites the example of Keith Weed, global marketing head of household goods giant Unilever, who told this year’s Cannes Lions creative festival in France, that marketers are being overwhelmed by the rate of media fragmentation…READ ON

Collaboration will ensure exciting future

Robots are now considered an important indicator of a country’s level of automation and are even seen by some as the “jewels in the crown of manufacturing”. The performance of countries in researching, building and putting robots to work is increasingly seen as a barometer of their innovative abilities and industrial success. The US, Japan, South Korea and other leading manufacturing economies have slotted the robot industry into their national strategies for development, and as a result their technology levels have matured and their exports have grown…READ ON

Collaboration and gender

In February 2012, a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society found that testosterone makes us less inclined to collaborate and more egocentric. Too much testosterone simply blinds us to other people’s views, opinions, views and ideas and encourages us to impose our own decisions and solutions to problems, the paper found. Now, new research by Danish consultancy, Innovisor has examined how this process manifests itself in the workplace, revealing that we are far more inclined to cooperate with others of the same sex…READ ON

The Importance of Prioritizing Collaboration for Female Entrepreneurs

This is how I view the gender imbalance in the technology industry: Yes, women entrepreneurs aren’t represented equally, but this doesn’t mean that the industry is broken and requires fixing. Rather, we need to empower female founders to successfully navigate today’s entrepreneurial reality, accelerate business growth, impact and value creation. That’s why I founded Women’s Startup Lab in 2013 in Menlo Park, Calif. Our mission is to pair female entrepreneurs with fellow tech founders and advisers who can help them build their networks and prepare their companies for the next stage of their business…READ ON

Creativity and Collaboration

Collaboration is often good for creativity. But be sure to make smart choices about the characteristics of your partner, when you join forces or work alone, how you decide upon who does what and how critique is handled. The right collaborator has an enormous influence on the product and the pleasure of the exchange. If the chemistry is not right, the roles are nebulous, or competitiveness looms, collaborations can be draining…READ ON

…and now for something completely different…

9 Ways to Become More Creative in the Next 10 Minutes

Modern culture often labels creativity as natural gift. Artists get showered with praise and proclamations of “you’re so talented,” but truthfully, talent has little to do with it. Creativity is a skill to be learned, practiced, and developed, just like any other. Juggling takes practice, as does surfing, coding, and driving a car. Creativity is no different. The more you make creativity part of your daily life, the more it will grow. So how do you make creativity part of your daily life? Here are 9 suggestions–and guess what? You can get started on them all in the next 10 minutes…READ ON