Eclectica! That’s how I would sum up this week’s curated list of reading. It also sounds like a good brand name: eclectica…Over the past week I’ve had several interesting conversations, both here in my home city, Brisbane (currently hosting the G20), and in Sydney, Australia’s best known city. What I found was that many factors interest people who are passionate about collaboration; or perhaps just curious about it. One chat was with a Sydney based publisher and editor of a tech focused website who seemed to be interested in the shortest possible definition of collaboration. However I believe that simple definitions may not always be in our best interest. On the contrary, complex things can be fun and are often not meant to be simplified. Which explains why this week’s selection has a focus on a few interesting areas of work that really come together when we collaborate.

Sincere thanks to those who have suggested articles for this edition of Roadmender Recommends.

10 Tips on the Value of Collaboration in Startups

Any entrepreneur with a vision can postulate a new business, but it takes a collaboration of many people to make it a success. Today the complexity of forces required for success include multi-disciplinary skills, competencies, and experiences in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Entrepreneurs who embrace the “lone wolf” approach usually live to regret it…READ ON

Collaborate to stand out from your competition

Take a few moments to think about whether you stand out from your competition. What is it you do that separates you from others in your industry? Maybe it’s your marketing, the level of service you provide, your online profile or a combination of all of these? Where does collaboration factor into how you stand out from every other agent in your local area? Collaboration is a fantastic way of rising above the noise in the cutthroat world of real estate to boost your profile. I find it surprising that more in the industry don’t utilize it to create a win-win situation for both parties involved. As well as the ability to extend your reach and promote yourself in a different way to traditional marketing methods, it can often be a very cost-effective option for connecting with your community. READ ON

The future of business: customer collaboration

As brand transparency continues to increase, companies that focus on customer collaboration – on everything from brand stories to product development – will likely see gains in engagement, awareness, and interest. Technology continues to fuel this growth; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are all organically spawning powerful engagements from customers. Co-creation taps into a strong sense of ownership amongst customers, and increases the odds that they will evolve into brand ambassadors. Here are a few ways to capitalize on the movement…READ ON

The 7 Principles Of The Future Employee

It’s safe to say that the employee of tomorrow is not the same person as the employee of yesterday. The five trends shaping the future of work helped make sure of that fact. A few weeks ago I also shared another visual called The Evolution of the Employee which compares employees of the past and future. Oftentimes when I speak at conferences or visit with companies they ask me how the way we work is changing and so that prompted me to put together something called the 7 Principles of the Future Employee. The best way to think about this is as the 7 core ways that employees of the future will work. These are detailed in my latest book on the future of work but a brief summary of these 7 Principles can be found below…READ ON

Why Incubators and Accelerators Need to Collaborate on a Global Scale

It can be mind-blowing when you think of how quickly internet, software and app companies can start up, propagate and become successful. It’s not surprising that acquisitions by Google and those by Facebook, far surpass the GDP of some small countries. So where will the next big idea come from? This may be the one question that drives incubators and accelerators to intensify their collaboration in support of the startups in their rosters…READ ON

Collaboration is all around us

In your heart you know that the time has come to leave the “digital coffee machine” behind and get collaboration going on your enterprise social network (ESN). What you still can’t figure out is how to convince your colleagues to start using the platform not only for their conversations but also to run their projects and organise workflows. In the Guide I have written as part of the SMiLE series, I explore what communicators need to do to move from the Conversation to the Collaboration Era…READ ON

Move over MOOCs – Collaborative MOOC 2.0 is coming

Massive open online courses – MOOCs – offered by top universities have expanded worldwide over the last three years, gaining students globally for courses designed in the United States and elsewhere and disseminated globally on platforms like Coursera, edX and the British-based FutureLearn. Their spread has the potential to disrupt the model of bricks-and-mortar universities each with their own courses – a theme much discussed in academia…READ ON

…and now for something completely different…

Research Shows Easy to Walk Communities Can Blunt Cognitive Decline

Watts said easy-to-walk communities resulted in better outcomes both for physical health—such as lower body mass and blood pressure—and cognition (such as better memory) in the 25 people with mild Alzheimer’s disease and 39 older adults without cognitive impairment she tracked. She believes that older adults, health care professionals, caregivers, architects and urban planners could benefit from the findings. Credit University of Kansas

New study results from the University of Kansas to be presented this weekend at the Gerontological Society of America’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., bolster the adage that “heart healthy is brain healthy.” The investigation shows neighborhoods that motivate walking can stave off cognitive decline in older adults. “People can walk either to get somewhere or for leisure,” said Amber Watts, assistant professor of clinical psychology, who will share her findings at a symposium Sunday, Nov. 9, in Liberty Salon K at the Washington Marriott Marquis. READ ON