Any business seriously attracted to the idea of collaboration in its workplace inevitably reaches a point where it has to answer some very hard questions; the most obvious being how they intend to make collaboration work. It’s all well and good to think that if staff are invited […]
Advanced research in the collaboration discipline is still in its infancy. There is still a lot that we do not know. So much about collaboration is still done on a hunch or a guesstimate and, more or less, that is how many well-established disciplines started before becoming fine-tuned […]
By Simone Novello, Managing Director of Partner2GROW, 52% of businesses on the Fortune 500 list in 2000 are gone (UpStart Business Journal June 4 2015). Nobody can afford to be complacent, arrogant, or go it alone. Creative disruption presents enormous opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but those […]
This week’s ROADMENDER top 5 recommended articles reinforce the key message; collaboration is about better competition. Be it a large business or a start-up, collaboration is central. This is even more the case now as we realise that stalling tactics (aka, ‘collaboration washing’), as observed by old school […]
“Alliances between companies whether they are from different parts of the world of different ends of the supply chain, are a fact of life in business today.” This simple statement introduces one of the best pieces on collaboration ever written, “Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Alliances”; by the […]
The streaming world has slowly crept up on us. We embraced the past two decades of an unprecedented rate of connecting, with an almost hyper fervour. Great products such as smart phones, Wi-Fi technology, apps and assistive intelligence have made things easier in so many ways. In the […]
A searing issue right now is employee engagement. Businesses of all sizes are affected and, in the post GFC era, business competitiveness simply does not make sense unless the issue of overwhelming disengagement on the part of employees is tackled head-on. Engagement of staff has a lot to […]
In this world, there are two types of people; those that use a smart phone cover and those that don’t. I’ve obviously never done a head count but I feel the majority belong to the ‘use a phone case’ camp. There’s a lot of logic in spending 20 […]
There was a time in business history when collaboration was only for the brave. It was also for business connoisseurs; those prepared to try things others could not even imagine. Today, collaboration is mainstream, notwithstanding the fact that we still have a long way to go in reaching […]
When it comes to the future, we generally can’t help ourselves; we are nothing short of obsessed about it. To most of us, it doesn’t feel like we are, but really, if we take a moment to reflect, we can see that by and large we are fixated […]
“Science is a method to keep yourself from kidding yourself”. So said the ever inspiring Edwin Land. By the same token, learning something new on a regular basis is the way to betterment. Welcome to this week’s list of ROADMENDER’s recommended readings; the largest such depository of all […]
Most people have heard about collaboration. In fact, the majority of senior business leaders, executives and managers probably bombard their employees with messages extolling the virtues of collaboration. And therein lies a slight problem, as with all change management that comes from authority. Making things slightly more complicated […]
If you had a major stake in a business, would you employ someone who is not engaged with the role they are applying for? The bleeding obvious answer would seem to be a big fat NO. However, the sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of employees are […]
Anyone who has collaborated would have experienced some mistakes. What are the mistakes we commonly make in collaboration; particularly in intra-organisational collaboration? While the long list of candidates for the easiest and costliest collaboration mistakes is worth addressing in full, this week I have chosen the simples one […]
There is no doubt that collaboration is a buzzword. Unfortunately though, for some that is all there is to it. But on the flip side, many more will make the best of it. Collaboration as a discipline is still in an early phase of development and is finding […]
My memory is a bit foggy now but when I was a child and was asked many times what I would like to do when I grew up, I never thought that I would like to fail. I am pretty sure this is a universal reaction. Children simply […]
Depending on where one lives, the trends regarding freelancing and entrepreneurialism may differ a little. Some US data indicates that there is a strong march towards an increasing number of people seeking to work as freelancers and/or entrepreneurs. Some suggest that as many as 40 percent of working […]
One thing that I find truly great is the fact that we can collaborate globally. Distance collaboration is not as much reliant on infrastructure, as it is on strong social and cultural attitudes. At this point it still looks like people are far more likely to work with […]
Collaboration is not joke, but it doesn’t take too much to turn it into one. If it does become a joke, it is unavoidably because we, the people, never got it in the first place. For every collaboration that went well I can find ones that could have […]
Fashion is fun. Great fun for many. But above all it is one of the most competitive industries. It is also one of the industries that thrives on collaboration. In fact, given endless fast paced trend changes and the fickle nature of consumer interests, it would be almost […]
If there is one major obstacle that can threaten collaboration working at its best, it is the attitude of those who see collaboration as a perfect opportunity to be part of a group, but without having serious intent or capability to play a part. Good intentions simply count […]
There is a shift afoot: a shift in the way we glean knowledge and insight that is very different from that used by previous generations of managers, executives and leaders. Two decades ago, the gold standard of learning would have been referenced against an MBA from a prestigious […]
Almost every business discussion, irrespective of the industry or sector, seems to centre on financial return, strategy, marketing and the like. Basically the stuff we tend to feel comfortable with – the real ‘business’ factors. It is rare that conversation focuses on things like elegance. In fact, elegance, […]
Theoretically, the longest chess game possible involves 5,949 moves. That implies a lot of combinations. But I wonder how many combinations are possible in business collaboration. In my experience I think collaboration would give chess a run for its money. We should not be surprised at that possibility […]
I am never sure if the popularity of the term ‘collaboration’ makes it better understood, or if it actually creates an illusion that collaboration is something that is easy to understand and do. Results clearly tell us that collaboration is still a hit and miss affair for way […]
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