Collaborate to innovate
It’s incredible how some of this new stuff we are discussing at the moment is so old. Personally, I can’t wait until we are truly collaborative, taking us down deviant streets of intrigue, curiosity and discovery. But until then, if we want people to work together, we need to give them an intrinsic incentive to do so!
Many of the answers to our questions are in different sorts of places today. By collaborating we could be finding them quicker and more cost effectively. In business we have conquered the physical world, now we are trying to master our brainpower. The web is allowing us to do this by giving us access to knowledge, information and people. It’s led to a connection of individuals at virtually no cost. The other advantage is the huge opportunities for growth, wealth and innovation. Many say we need to collaborate or we will perish.
We have realised that we can create more together than as individuals. With geography no longer a barrier, the whole world has become local by us acting global. Collaboration has significant implications that will scare the pants off a lot of people. Intellectual property is completely broken, leadership has to change yet again, the ‘free’ debate will continue and we will talk a lot about group work rather than team work. You can see training companies right now throwing their teambuilding workshops into the waste paper basket!
Collaboration will impose immense changes in our business strategy, our infrastructure and the way in which we innovate. A small business now has access to thousands of high performing, enthusiastic individuals who can work on their business, with their customers and develop their products for the future. It will level the playing field with the corporatist who is desperately struggling to keep the old ways of doing business by suing suppliers, competitors and even staff. It’s frankly embarrassing to watch.
Dan Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams write “To innovate and succeed, the new mass collaboration must become part of every leader’s playbook and lexicon.” The future, no matter what we do, will involve us organising huge groups of people to participate in mass collaboration to add real value. And, not to contribute to the mass medioricity we’ve experienced before.
Nowadays it’s about exploiting our knowledge and ability not our employees and customers. A constantly changing world either creates uncertainty or an abundance of opportunities. Collaboration will be the linchpin that helps us succeed and stay ahead of the complex game.
