I’m fond of repeating that one does not really collaborate unless the process of collaboration changes the person a bit. This change-inducing quality of collaboration is at the same time a positive and a negative; and the attractive features of change are commonly challenged by a long list […]
It’s tempting to start with ‘in the future…’ but the reality is that even future is not what it used to be. Anticipation of a distant time and place seems to be less, well, ‘anticipatory’. It’s hard to get surprised any more. In fact we increasingly talk about […]
Some people have worked out long time ago that, at the very least, collaboration equals saving. In itself, this may be all that is needed for a collaboration to produce the desired outcomes. Personally I think might be cutting it short of the full potential that a collaborative […]
Today, the amount of information an average person needs to process is far larger than only a couple of decades ago. This is generally not an important piece of information for most to reflect on before they assume a yoga pose and practice mindfulness in the morning. But […]
Humans are wired for the appreciation of beauty, harmony, pleasant patterns. Work can be beautiful. The entire experience can be pleasant in a similar way that we experience listening to good music, appreciate a sculpture or admire a well designed chair. It is not a standard thing for […]
I recently came across the term ‘collaborative capitalist’, which was in reference to Margaret Heffernan, the author of A Bigger Prize. I have not read the book and so can’t really comment much. But judging by what information is available, it seems that Ms Heffernan makes a critical […]
As you all know, I have a vested interest in collaboration, so if this piece sounds a bit ‘it’s all about collaboration’, that is probably because it is. My main point is not that collaboration is unavoidable and that everything has to be done collaboratively. What I do […]
I see collaboration as much a part of present business and social drivers as much as one of the critical pillars of resilient society in the future. In my opinion, a resilient society goes beyond sustainability. In that context, I am willing to share what I consider […]
Leadership literature has delved deeply into all forms of behavioural factors that make and distinguish better leaders. The role of leadership in any form of business activity is acknowledged but not necessarily always best applied. Some complexities of leadership are at times at the mercy of our obsession […]
In all honesty, the supply of good examples about how well collaboration works is almost endless. When I say good examples, I do not exclusively mean great collaboration stories. It is more about facets of collaboration that can be valuable to an increasing number of people who recognise […]
Collaboration, Not Competition: A Winning Small Business Strategy No matter how many times it’s repeated, it is worth doing so again for the simple reason that the message that collaboration is ‘good for you, your business and your life’ should be more of a mantra until we start […]
In an era of ever-expanding virtual teamwork, some companies (Yahoo, Best Buy, Bank of America and others) seem to have taken a Luddite’s view of the digitally-connected world. They’re smart people, so why are they bucking the future? First, some equate ‘virtual worker’ with ‘non-contributor’. Not so! The […]
I have had a long, meaningful and warm, but oftentimes troublesome relationship with the word ‘co-operation’. Having been a professional working in the ‘Co-operative Sector’ (housing co-ops precisely) for many years, one of my major tasks was to educate new (and old) co-op members about the literal and […]
There is very little worse than feeling powerless to control your life. This is a common experience for a great number of people, many of whom end up feeling this helplessness as a result of a complex set of circumstances. The number of people who need help from […]
The obsession, well I can’t find a better word, with capacity building as a way to fix social problems has become a political dogma. We fear any attempt to innovate our approaches so much that it could almost be career suicide to attempt to explore, let alone argue […]
Why Women Collaborate, Men Work Alone, And Everybody’s Angry Australia’s Governor General recently delivered this year’s Boyer Lectures that were a little refreshing compared to what has been served up to the engaged public recently. Specifically, I am impressed with the willingness of Ms Bryce to call things […]
More often than not, questions I am asked from people whose jobs require them to be collaborative and/or to implement collaborative approaches are related to how they can influence people around them to think more collaboratively. It is very common for collaboration practitioners to experience frustration when colleagues […]
Following on from the first part of this post (published last week), here are some of the resources that were shared at the micro-workshop, and which may be useful to the entire ROADMENDER network. What makes a good collaboration practitioner? I compiled this particular list based on some […]
Last week, with the sponsorship of the Macquarie Group, ROADMENDER delivered a micro-workshop as part of the national Changemakers Festival which featured over 150 events across Australia. ROADMENDER delivered its signature style workshop which focused on exploring a range of collaboration concepts such as the “collaboration premium”, “collaboration […]
First of all, many thanks to Jelenko for sharing this space for conversations and perspectives on collaboration. Collaboration has been central to many aspects of my life – it’s useful to be able to reflect on processes that work well and those that are more challenging My recent […]
Why Collaborating Creatively With Your Customers Helps You Transcend Being Just Another Brand An interesting thing I’ve observed is that as the practice of collaboration is becoming more sophisticated, the practitioners and strategists alike are becoming innovative and creative as well. So when Ethan Song, CEO of the […]
The current state of play in respect to the way we deal with disasters, especially when it comes to the resilience element, resembles Abraham Maslow’s often repeated observation ‘when the only tool you have is a hammer then all the problems start to look like nails’. Over the […]
A ROADMENDER regular, guest blogger Keith Bancroft, returns with more insight into collaboration as a means to better ready enterprises. Keith and I have collaborated on the development of what we believe to be an innovative way of gaining a degree of business readiness that focuses on a […]
Collaboration key to job creation At the risk of extolling too much that collaboration is the answer to all problems, I have to say I like hearing that there are more and more simple and direct arguments for collaboration. When we mention jobs now I am sure that […]
I recently spoke to a colleague who noted that collaboration is all the rage now. I suppose I never thought of collaboration as being űber cool, but I got the sentiment of the observation. Often, many things in business, government and life in general become popular at some point. […]
