Author Archives

Jelenko Dragisic

ROADMENDER Recommends

Chances are that one can be a bit tired of hearing about collaboration these days. The word is on everyone’s lips. And yet there’s always something new happening. New collaborative solutions spring up all the time. More surveys and research are revealing the good and the challenging sides […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

There is evidence to suggest that people who collaborate tend to work faster and harder. They achieve more. So, should hiring managers pay more attention to the collaboration capacity and attitudes of new staff? I think yes. In fact, I think there would have to be an exceptional […]

When to Turn Down Collaboration

Collaboration in the entertainment industry is hot right now. Essentially, all pop music stars maintain their relevance by collaborating at one point or another with other musicians. It is not only pop stars that collaborate. The fashion industry, sport, gaming and others all embrace collaboration. It has become […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Right now we are experiencing a mini boom in the proliferation of collaboration focused tech tools. There is a sense of a race currently underway, with major players pouring resources into collaboration tools and starts-ups cropping up everywhere. I see that as a good thing because it also […]

Reboot your business development

Let’s be clear; collaboration is not the answer to every business challenge. But ignoring its potential is quite likely to make every aspect of your business more complicated and costlier. With that in mind I recommend that in the current oscillating climate of business confidence uncertainty and disruption, […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

It is ok to say ‘no’ to collaboration. (Pop music mega star Adele created a bit of a buzz recently with her refusal to collaborate with another star, Beyonce. Some say it wasn’t true, thus the buzz.) But before we say ‘no’ we should know why, and our […]

Composing Collaboration

Collaboration is a strategy. So, it only works as it should when it is approached as a strategy. But how we approach strategy is an even larger question. Over the years I have taken part in strategic planning in a range of capacities. Some I led myself, in […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Not all collaborators get their start in the same way. Some get hooked after they stumble across it while working on an exciting project; others react after a dose of FOMO. Whatever the case, the evidence is clear: everyone is increasingly aware that collaboration is a factor that […]

Collaboration: it’s only a word…

Collaborator /kəˈlabəreɪtə/ (noun) – an associate or assistant in labour, particularly literary or scientific Over time, the meaning of many words changes. In most cases the changes take effect very slowly, to the point that we barely notice it. Some words change meaning almost completely; others only slightly. […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Some people approach collaboration with suspicion. It’s a deep seated attitude going back to the days when competition was defined in terms that neglected a very simple fact; common good and common goals underpin all healthy competition. Competition and collaboration are the new marriage made in heaven for […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Collaboration makes some people uneasy. That then can easily translate into defensive behaviour, as people generally tend to rationalise their feelings. And then things are likely to snowball into something you can call anything under the sun except collaboration. But frankly it’s still early days with regard to […]

Collaboration: Nothing Personal

When people enter into a close working arrangement whereby the outcome of one party depends on the action of another, it is only natural that tension may arise; sometimes even dangerously so. The threat of conflict in itself can be a real turnoff, even for the most enthusiastic […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

In a long list of the benefits of collaboration, learning is one of the all-time stand outs. Every business manager knows that organisations that intend keeping their light on year after year must be ‘learning organisations’. And one of the massive benefits of collaboration in business is learning […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Collaboration is as much about shared value creation as it is about innovation and disruption. The mix of these factors is not easy to come to terms with for the savviest of managers, let alone the conservatively educated ones who still adhere to last century’s management textbooks. There’s […]

What is your motive?

Police and lawyers tell us that you can’t solve a crime without knowing the motivation behind it. A ‘no motive no crime’ sort of logic. Businesses can’t work without a motive either. And the same goes for collaboration. I would not suggest that collaboration enthusiasts befriend a criminal […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

Business is all about competition, which is not possible without a strategy that takes care of relevance and survival in any market. Could it be that the ultimate tool for survival is the way businesses collaborate? If we take a long view of say the next 20 years, […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

The proliferation of collaboration platforms is one indicator of the growth and demand for systems that businesses are increasingly turning to in order to make the best of their talent. It’s great to see that level of motivation and entrepreneurialism on a global scale. And just when we […]

ROADMENDER Recommends

“Collaboration is not a buzzword”. So says Jason Martin (see below) and I could not agree more. Included in this week’s recommended reading list is a piece by Mr Martin who lays out a clear business case for collaboration that start-ups should follow to the letter. Buzzwords can […]