“I think the next century will be the century of complexity.” That was the response Stephen Hawking gave to a journalist at the dawn of this century in January 2000. One fifth of the century in and we have seen plenty of evidence that Hawking was right. We […]
2020’s mega disruption is already posing a major question to the business community – what is the best way to recover? As far as business recovery goes, there is no off-the-shelf formula, no silver bullet, no magic forecast. Strategy will be the key. One of the serious contenders […]
The fallout from this year’s pandemic is yet to be fully ascertained. The long trail of damage it has caused will provide lessons that will invariably be critical for all forms of organised life, whether that be a local community or a city or a business or government. […]
A recent business survey found that businesses which merely manage to survive tend to be stuck in going it alone, while those that are highly collaborative are more likely to see revenue growth. Increasingly, businesses are clear on the role of collaboration as a strategy of growth through […]
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 3 months you would have noticed that the word ‘collaboration’ has been buzzing around at record highs. We have seen the largest, rapid, workforce shift in recent times, which has resulted in an unprecedented growth in demand […]
[5 minute read] Technology that enables people to work together is essential. And the more intuitively it is designed, the more effective it is. There is seemingly an exponential proliferation of tools that are branded ‘collaboration’ which promise a world of benefits. COVID-19 has also played an additional […]
COVID 19 has disrupted everything. And, interestingly, one specific thing that has been disturbed is the corrosive cynicism of collaboration as a valuable business strategy. The crisis brought by the global pandemic has led us to rethink the capacity of collaboration as a response to the pervasive nature […]
Collaboration has a challenging problem: it’s appealing for simple tasks but not for strategic long-term goals. The net result is that we have a market for apps and digital tools that ‘facilitate’ collaboration and implicitly lead to all the good things that collaboration produces, including increased productivity, innovation […]
One of the biggest clichés in business is that ‘collaboration is a buzzword’. What lies behind this almost mantra-like statement is an uncomfortable truth about collaboration: it is not something that comes with a simple set of rules and it can fail miserably when done half-heartedly. However, we […]
Business strategists have been advising businesses to take collaboration seriously for years. Early doubts, based on old school ideas that competition and collaboration do not mix, have been proven to be of limited use in an era where innovation and business growth is not easy without the exchange […]
The notion of collaboration as a competitive business strategy has been around for some time. In some sectors it works better than others, but the overall impact on high performing enterprises that look for every bit of advantage they can add to their competitiveness has been demonstrated many […]
Businesses can’t really function without collaboration. To do it well and avoid the pitfalls of costly mistakes that happen with too much enthusiasm and not enough planning, collaborating teams need a lot of help. Sometimes knowing which tools to use is all that is needed for successful collaboration. […]
“Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups of selfish individuals.” This is a famous insight by legendary American biologist E.O. Wilson which may likewise form the baseline of a good collaboration […]
People in the contemporary workplace (read: high performing, highly motivated, competitive and resilient) expect to be given three things: meaningful work, appropriate reward and ample opportunities to collaborate. That last bit often gets neglected by executive decision makers, who in many instances ascended to those positions via old […]
Every now and then collaboration can be frustrating. Invariably it gets people wondering if it is worth the effort and in particular if collaboration is really possible given that humans are prone to both competition and collaboration. How to reconcile the drivers? In my first book (The Collaboration […]
2018 saw collaboration as a business strategy march towards mainstream practice. The proliferation of new research and material on the subject of collaboration is a clear indication that the value of good collaboration is a major ingredient of a sustainable and resilient business. This latest selection of recommended […]
From time to time businesses conduct strategic audits to ensure they are better aligned for growth or simply, and probably more often, they merely respond to disruption and challenges. Increasingly there is a focus on collaboration, or lack of it as is the most often the case. No […]
Collaboration is not always an exact science. However, it is not really possible without a synthesis of different branches of science. If approached correctly, as a business strategy, then it clearly leads serious planners and managers to consult different elements that require a deeper understanding of things, e.g. […]
There used to be time when collaboration was a smart business strategy only for advanced businesses and well-resourced companies that could afford the risks that came with it. Nowadays collaboration as a business strategy is the mainstay of an increasing number of enterprises across all industries. While good […]
I know of organisations which regularly get a bad rap in the marketplace for being poor at collaboration. In fact I can name a few who actually know they have that standing but are not sure about how to change and improve their track record in collaboration. Being […]
The business world is interesting for a whole host of reasons. How businesses approach collaboration as a strategy is one of them. Why some businesses still struggle and remain unsure about collaboration as a business driver, while others enter into 10 year-long collaborations, is a bit of a […]
Collaboration as a strategic approach to creating value is winning. People are increasingly relying on a collaborative way of working; be it within a business or between businesses across industries. This doesn’t mean that the work of promoting the practice and approach to collaboration should stop though. As […]
Edwin Land, the famous inventor and personal idol of the late Steve Jobs, remarked that ‘politeness is the poison of collaboration’. That is another way of saying that when people collaborate by ‘going along to get along’ they end up missing the whole point of collaboration. That’s not […]
One can never have too much of a good thing. And knowing a good thing when you see it is a good thing in itself. Collaboration with a strategic purpose is a good thing for the willing and those paying attention to the simple fact that businesses are […]
There is never a dull moment in an office when collaboration’s around. We are constantly hearing good news about it; from growth in the collaboration software market as one indicator of the need for better collaboration, to findings which indicate that collaboration really is making business more competitive. […]
