Wikipedia has just celebrated 15 years of service. I can’t imagine there is a person out there who has not used it. It is just one of those reference tools one can’t go without. In many ways Wikipedia is almost synonyms with the idea of collaboration more so than with a reference book or an encyclopaedia of any sort. Jimmy Wales, the founder, explains it all in the article featured in this week’s list of recommended reading. But beyond that, the case for collaboration in general is also well argued by a number of thinkers and practitioners. As one of the articles explains, business leaders know the power of collaboration. That same power seems also to be one of the defining features of the late David Bowie. The article by Brad Grossman, the founder and chief executive of Zeitguide about Bowie and collaboration is as inspiring as it is insightful.

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

Business must collaborate – without it the world is brutal and terrifying

I was recently introduced to Pandemic. Unlike zero-sum competition games such as chess, Pandemic is a cooperative board game that helps focus the mind on winning in the context of sustainability. The threat in Pandemic is the end of the world and, although the focus is public health rather than ecological collapse, the same principles apply…READ ON

Wikipedia’s strength is in collaboration – as we’ve proved over 15 years

On 13 November 2015, a terrorist attack on Paris seized the world’s attention. Almost immediately, someone in London wrote a modest Wikipedia article outlining the facts of the tragedy. Within two hours, the article had been edited hundreds of times, with references to 10 different sources…READ ON

Stop, Collaborate and Listen: How Leaders Tackle Tough Business Challenges

How do you navigate those most difficult business challenges if you’re an advertising agency or a brand marketer? By focusing on the end goal, and then hiring great people and allowing them to problem solve in a winning environment. If you do that well, your challenges will be met. And you won’t have to actively recruit, because great talent (and big ideas) will find you. Or so said a panel of world-class talent experts I recently had the privilege to moderate…READ ON

How Introverts Can Survive A Collaborative Workspace

The collaborative workspace trend, where employees are encouraged to work in teams with little space or privacy, is slowly taking over the corporate world. Although many employees love the transparency and open door policies this trend has brought, this is truly a nightmarish working situation for introverts. But with this open floor plan only growing in popularity, how will…READ ON

David Bowie And The Power Of Collaboration

Floral tributes are placed in front of a mural of Bowie in Brixton, south London. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

If the biographer Walter Issacson ever revises his book The Innovators, he might want to consider adding a chapter on David Bowie. The book illustrates, in convincing fashion, how the likes of Alan Turing, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Page transformed their industries, and simultaneously our lives, not as lone geniuses but through collaboration, mastering the art of teamwork to maintain their relevance and keep themselves tirelessly creative…READ ON

Limited Collaboration Will Limit Career Growth

Hoarding is where an individual or team keeps knowledge to themselves. This means that others have to ask them to ask them to do something for them, or to they’ll tell them how to do it with minimal information. I am constantly surprised that when I share this barrier to collaboration with customers, how many of them look at each other and say “That’s Dick” or “That’s Jane.” It’s then followed immediately with “They call it job security.”…READ ON

Video collaboration continues to gain momentum

I didn’t win Powerball last night, so I suppose it’s back to work. Three things I’ve noticed recently, which of course always indicates a trend…READ ON