CHAPTER 4
Collaboration
The new promise of collaboration is that with peer production we will harness human skill, ingenuity, and intelligence more efficiently and effectively than anything we have witnessed previously.
COLLABORATING FOR THE FUTURE
Cisco, the world’s largest provider of Internet networking and communication equipment, is powered by collaboration. With 22 current worldwide initiatives, chief executive John Chambers claims that it would be impossible to manage his company using his old style of command and control.1 Collaboration enables Cisco to foresee changing trends and act quickly.
According to Chambers, one of Cisco’s strengths is its ability to foresee impending market transitions. “Cisco is able to predict trends six to eight years ahead even in the highly volatile technology market by recognizing early-warning signals its customers unwittingly put off. To capitalize on these ‘market shifts,’ Chambers gave up his command-and-control style and made decision-making highly collaborative.”
Cisco organizes for collaboration in several ways.
No Hierarchy
Chambers claims that he found it difficult to let go of his usual command-and-control style, but he disciplined himself to change his behavior. Specifically, in meetings, he gave his team time to think. He began to see that his team often made decisions that were just as good, if not better, than his. And because they were involved in the process, the members of the team were much more invested in the execution. However, not all managers were able to make the adjustment. When this collaborative leadership style was implemented throughout Cisco, 20 percent of the top management team went elsewhere.
State-of-the-Art Technologies
Among Cisco’s offerings are several technologies that enable collaboration. PC software for online meetings is powerful and efficient. But the real collaborative power comes from the company’s next-generation videoconferencing that connects customers and team members worldwide.
Collaborative Teams
Cisco has a highly matrixed structure of cross-functional teams called councils and boards that collaborate on projects. Because of the highly sophisticated conferencing software, Cisco employees collaborate in real time much like social networking groups. “The power of collaboration is not in adding more people to the process but in getting immediate input from smart people and thinking through the problem as a group.” This is critical to the success of the company. Individuals and teams from anywhere in the world can gather quickly for an intimate virtual meeting using their state-of-the-art videoconferencing technology.
Verbal and Financial Motivation
To begin a project, Cisco puts people together who speak a common language and engages them in reaching their goal. The leader then drives the team through execution. People are motivated to engage with strong leadership and compensation tied to team performance.
Clear and Consistent Communication
Chambers states: “Clear and consistent communication was and is very, very important to making this whole thing work.” Top management has developed a clear and consistent vocabulary to ensure that information is dispersed and shared consistently worldwide.
Quick Alignment of Resources
When resources are low, flat management and collaboration may save the day. Team members are encouraged to help each other and reallocate resources. Risk taking is also necessary to make a quick change of direction. Team members must be tolerant of failure.
Chambers claims that the new challenges keep him motivated and competitive. His passion for collaboration and willingness to share decision-making infuses the whole system with new energy to fuel the vision and stimulate innovation.
CREATING A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE
In his award-winning book The Culture of Collaboration, Evan Rosen defines collaboration as “working together to create value while sharing virtual or physical space.”2
Expanding on that, the new science based on quantum physics and field theory suggests that the value created by collaboration is greater than the total possible value from the individual contributions. The energy released from the interaction and feedback increases the total value from the system.
Cultural Elements of Collaboration
For collaboration to flourish, the organization must take steps to create a collaborative culture. Rosen identifies ten cultural elements of collaboration.3 Many of these elements are inherent qualities of an adaptive company:
1. Trust. Trust is a foundational feature of any team. Members who trust each other feel safe in sharing ideas. If people are afraid their ideas will be stolen or they will be criticized for mistakes, collaboration is difficult. Look for more discussion of trust later in the chapter.
2. Sharing. Some individuals resist sharing because they fear they will lose their value. It is important to demonstrate that by sharing, everyone’s value is increased.
3. Goals. Commonly created and shared goals are essential for vital collaboration.
4. Innovation. Collaboration stimulates innovation, which then fuels more collaboration.
5. Environment. The physical and virtual environment represents the nonverbal language of the company. Spaces that facilitate informal congregation lead to the natural sharing of ideas and issues. Virtual collaborative environments through technology advances are as important as real environments and are discussed in a later section.
6. Collaborative chaos. Chaos energizes the system. By facilitating the unstructured exchange of ideas, innovation flourishes.
7. Constructive confrontation. Respectful disagreement fuels the system to generate new ideas. When individuals feel safe to challenge each other’s ideas, innovation is unleashed.
8. Communication. Effective communication skills are fundamental to collaboration. Communication is the channel that builds trust while facilitating inquiry and sharing.
9. Community. A sense of community is a natural outcome of collaboration. Shared goals, invigorating idea exchanges, and group problem solving build trust and community.
10. Value. Value from collaboration is realized in numerous ways. Companies have experienced business benefits, such as reduced processing times, shortened product development cycles, new markets identification, and more. There are also considerable cost savings realized through human benefits. When individuals feel engaged and valued as part of something larger than themselves, they have a more positive attitude about work. This leads to increased productivity, lower absenteeism, and more.
Instilling a Culture of Collaboration
Many organizations spend large amounts of money on state-of-the-art collaboration software. However, success is elusive if the culture does not support collaboration. Rosen identifies the following approaches for instilling a culture of collaboration:4
• Establish a mentoring system. A natural complement to collaboration, mentoring helps support team effort by providing assistance to members in learning and development. A formal structure with top-level commitment and participation goes a long way to support system-wide collaboration.
• Invite constructive confrontation. Disagreement and conflict in a safe and trusting environment infuse the system with energy, leading to innovation within and evolution of the system.
• Integrate collaborative tools into work styles. Technology that facilitates collaboration is transforming the workplace. System-wide support and advocacy that consider individual styles as well as organizational goals ensure high adoption rates and benefits.
• Facilitate cross-functional brainstorming. Bringing diverse individuals together in a safe, informal environment to share ideas and concerns taps into the wisdom of the organization, leading to expansive thinking and breakthrough solutions.
• Reward people for collaborative behavior. Effective collaboration leads to efficiencies across the organization. Discouraging internal competition by rewarding individuals who collaborate helps to ingrain the behavior. The goal is create a new norm where collaboration is the natural tendency.
• Reward people for gaining broad input. Evaluate and reward individuals for seeking input and advice from others.
• Reward people for sharing information. Evaluate and reward individuals who share their knowledge and resources freely.
• Reward people who use collaboration to innovate. Evaluate and reward those who initiate and inspire cross-functional teams that innovate.
• Promote collaborators. Promote individuals who demonstrate their understanding of that concept that considering multiple perspectives leads to better decisions.
• Practice collaborative leadership. Modeling behaviors such as engaging people, asking questions, listening, and building consensus sends a powerful message that encourages similar behavior at all levels. Using positive nonverbal communication such as an accepting and curious tone elicits trust, sharing, and consensus.
Building Collaboration through Appreciative Inquiry
Traditionally, organizations look to change behavior by focusing on detecting errors, performing gap analyses, and fixing problems. This deficit-based theory of change may work for the top-down, hierarchical organization. But for dynamic organizations with a continual need to adapt, these models are not sufficient. With their focus on problems and crises, they may even be deleterious to the change process. In 2000 David Cooperrider, a pioneer of Appreciative Inquiry proposed that “While researchers have demonstrated the potential for increased organizational understanding when members focus on opportunity rather than threat . . . deficient inquiry continues to guide many in their quest for change.”5
Conversely, the new science suggests that when the focus and intention are directed toward that which is positive, a creative power is unleashed that facilitates adaptation with unprecedented ease and efficiency. Appreciative Inquiry, a technique that focuses on positive outcomes, is based on the premise that humans are naturally drawn toward that which is positive. The practice of Appreciative Inquiry suggests that by searching within an organization for what works, what motivates, and what evokes positive energy, the organization will evolve in a positive direction. “Appreciative Inquiry involves the coevolutionary search for the best in people, organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what forces are at work when a system is its most effective, compassionate, and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms.”6
The practice of Appreciative Inquiry has unveiled a new theoretical framework for viewing change. Its protocol has an inherent ability to tap into the positive energy that is created by the relationship of the group. The resulting change is often spontaneous, natural, and successful beyond all expectations. “Conspicuously absent from this process are the vocabularies of deficit-based change (e.g., gap analysis, root causes of failure, unfreezing, defensive routines, variances, diagnosis, resistance, and flaming platforms).”7 The theoretical framework offers a deeper understanding of the power of this approach.8
Four Phases of Appreciative Inquiry
By asking positive questions, members of the organization begin to build a collective vision of what is possible. The future is designed through a self-organizing process that solicits the best from every member of the organization. The process generally consists of four phases.
Discovery Phase The discovery phase is based on the theory that “human systems are drawn towards their deepest and most frequent explorations.”9 This phase is characterized by interviews that are designed to determine the optimal capacity of the organization. In contrast to many discovery interviews that bring in outside consultants to uncover problems, the discovery phase is usually done in house with most members of the organization participating. It really becomes a “system-wide analysis of the positive core by its members.”10 As members of the organization are exposed to the possibilities expressed by other members, their level of appreciation and hope increases. The result is the discovery of themes and patterns.11
Dream Phase The dream phase12 guides participants into a transformational state by asking them to imagine what is possible for the organization. By tapping into the creative energy of the group, an imaginary future emerges for the organization. The dream usually contains “three elements: a vision of a better world, a powerful purpose, and a compelling statement of strategic intent.” As a result, participants feel a deeper connection and sense of shared purpose for their organization.
Design Phase The power of the dream fuels the design phase. In a typical change process, the directive is top down and often met with great resistance. The design and strategy necessary to bring the dream into reality emerges out of the new system of cooperation, mutual respect, and shared vision. In most cases, participants enter the design phase with a desire to change.
Destiny Phase Initially, the fourth phase was known as delivery because it was considered a more traditional stage of planning and implementation. However, after several years of working with the process, practitioners discovered that it felt more like a major transformation. Participants were realizing that their interpretation of the world has an effect on the process. As discussed in Chapter 2, their intention was creating their reality. So rather than focusing on planning and implementation, practitioners just let the participants guide the process. They completely gave up control. What seemed like a recipe for chaos turned into a perfect container for dynamic transformation and organization. Cooperrider and Whitney describe the Destiny Phase as follows:
Appreciative Inquiry accelerates the nonlinear interaction of organization breakthroughs, putting them together with historic, positive traditions and strengths to create a “convergence zone” facilitating the collective re-patterning of human systems. At some point, apparently minor positive discoveries connect in accelerating manner and quantum change, a jump from one state to the next that cannot be achieved through incremental change alone, becomes possible. What is needed, as the “Destiny Phase” of AI (Appreciated Inquiry) suggests, are the network-like structures that liberate not only the daily search into qualities and elements of an organization’s positive core but the establishment of a convergence zone for people to empower one another, to connect, cooperate, and co-create. Changes never thought possible are suddenly and democratically mobilized when people constructively appropriate the power of the positive core and . . . let go of accounts of the negative.13
Appreciative Inquiry is successful because every member of the organization has an equal voice. This has the effect of breaking down common communication barriers and inspiring full participation. It does not require any exceptional knowledge. Each member is asked to share his or her view of past and present organizational competencies. “The focus is on achievements, assets, potentials, innovations, strengths, elevated thoughts, opportunities, benchmarks, high-point moments, lived values, traditions, strategic competencies, memorable stories, and expressions of wisdom.”14 The sharing of positive aspects brings the members into a sense of wholeness from which the insights, visions, and future dreams can emerge. Appreciative inquiry is based on the concept that every member has value in the process.
BUILDING COLLABORATIVE TEAMS
Teams are the backbone of a collaborative culture. In the contribution that follows, John Reddish, succession planning expert, speaker, author, and consultant, discusses the characteristics of effective teams in the new business landscape.
Effective Teams for Today’s Business Landscape
Work teams can be very effective. They can also be a disaster, as anyone with even a passing knowledge of organizational dynamics understands. In today’s world of instant information, many of these impediments to real team performance are being overcome, while new challenges are emerging. New teams must be highly communicative, collaborative, mutually supportive, multitalented, and quick to respond, often without having a complete picture of the “facts.” New teams must be able to act with relative autonomy, demanding higher levels of accountability, unparalleled access to information, and commensurate authority. Team leadership can shift as demands for expertise change, although accountability remains with the titular team leader. The new team leader, therefore, must be both highly talented and politically savvy to survive and thrive as organizations adapt to new models. He or she must either have the stature or authority to withstand great pressure to avoid producing the “same old stuff,” which is tantamount to team failure.
In organizations with traditional structures and loyalties, teams are easily compromised by the often divergent pull from multiple constituencies that provide lip service to team success while providing minimum support or even actively working to sabotage team efforts. Teams that cannot pull themselves loose through the efforts of a strong, grounded leader or who have a patron high up in the organization often are teams in name only.
Organizations that want to embrace the increasing demands of emerging world market dynamics must become “flat.” New teams flourish in flat organizations, but leaders must be willing to embrace the transparency that accompanies increased initiative and accountability where disparate, often remote, teams, including ones with members operating from multiple locations and communicating largely electronically, take almost instantaneous action in the furtherance of organizational goals. Through convergence, the technology is developing to more fully support such remote collaboration and control. Management and team members/leaders must be willing to embrace this new dimension of work.
A current definition for successful team leadership might be:
As I see it, leadership is goal oriented, and effective. My leadership skills help me to release my own creative potential and the potential of individuals around me (both on my team and in support of our team efforts). These skills also help to tap the productive capacity of group actions, whether I’m the “active” leader or not.
11 Ways to Avoid Failure with Collaborative Teams
The following list details 11 reasons for team failure in traditional organizations and how they are avoided in collaborative organizations.
1. Failure to delegate is being replaced by multitalented peer-level team members with spunk and access to the same information as the team leader and/or organization.
2. Conflict with and among the team is being replaced by greater acceptance of the role of psychology and soft skills in organizations large and small.
3. Conflict with organizational, customer, and/or stakeholder leadership is being handled by increased transparency and clarity at all informational levels.
4. Excessive detail orientation is being replaced by a growing acceptance of pattern recognition (still being resisted in many quarters) as a viable alternative to detailed fact analysis.
5. Lack of meaningful management controls (responsibility/authority) is being replaced by the use of online tools for project management and collaboration in real time for organizations of all sizes.
6. Decision avoidance is being replaced by peer-level participation and resolution.
7. Failure to embrace new technology and methods is diminishing as Gen X, Gen Y, and New Millenniums are playing increasingly important roles in teams.
8. Noninclusion (ignoring the ideas and feelings of other team members and/or stakeholders) is being replaced by peer-level participation in teams and a breakdown in the perceived value of selective “loyalty.”
9. Hoarding information is being replaced by technologically astute team members developing open systems that make hoarding more difficult.
10. Emphasis on process rather than people is being replaced by the growing recognition that, as teams become more democratized and populated by peers, the benefits of collaboration are realized.
11. Failure to share credit is being replaced by the acknowledgment and acceptance of collaborative contributions.
Self-Organizing through Cross-Functional Teams
In business, cross-catalytic cycles are defined as the interaction of a variety of entities, such as people, teams, divisions, or even separate companies, that lead to the birth of a new, higher-level entity made up of the contributing entities and their relationships.15 The new entity that emerges from this process is incredibly stable and adaptable.
There is evidence of cross-catalytic cycles both within corporations and between corporations and their environment. These cycles are commonly facilitated by what organizations call cross-functional teams that coordinate and share information about sales, purchasing, product development, finance, and more. The learning that occurs through this process is essential for resilience and growth in large corporations.
Over the last few years, there has been a growth in cross-catalytic cycles between corporations. For example, a single company can be a vertical catalyst for one company through the supply chain and be a horizontal catalyst to a different company through competition. The stability of the system depends on the interaction and performance of each of the players.
The eventual outcome of cross-catalytic cycles is convergence.
Each cycle feeds on itself, develops itself, and converges toward a cycle on the next higher level of the organization. Thus, loosely connected departments become integrated parts of divisions; divisions become subsystems of the corporation; the corporation becomes increasingly bound up in the health of the industry; and the health of the industry is inextricably linked to the natural cycles of the global economy.16
VALUE OF TRUST
There is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy, and civilization throughout the world—one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love.
Trust is a fundamental building block for organizations that seek to build a collaborative culture. Since power is dispersed and each area is interdependent, a breach of trust can undermine the integrity of the entire system.
According to Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, “Our market system depends on trust. Trust in the work of our colleagues and trust in the word of those with whom we do business.” Greenspan goes on to say that the honesty and integrity of a company are a function of the character of the chief executive officer (CEO). “If a CEO countenances managing reported earnings, that attitude will drive the entire accounting regime of the firm. If he or she instead insists on an objective representation of a company’s business dealings, that standard will govern recordkeeping and due diligence.”17
In our complex business environment, trust is built through relationships. Specifically, our behaviors build or undermine trust. And our ability to communicate forms the foundation of those relationships. Margaret Wheatley and Byron Kellner-Rogers describe the importance of trust in organizations:
Relationships are another essential condition that engenders the organizations that we see. The forms of the organization bear witness to how people experience one another. In fear-filled organizations, impervious structures keep materializing. People are considered dangerous. They need to be held apart from one another.
But in systems of trust, people are free to create the relationships they need. Trust enables the system to open. The system expands to include those it had excluded. More conversations—more diverse and diverging views—become important. People decide to work with those from whom they had been separate.18
In The Speed of Trust, Steven Covey discusses how trust is a new competitive advantage. In a business landscape where speed is essential, the presence of trust empowers leaders to eliminate many steps related to governance, due diligence, and so on. The organizations that depend on large volumes of data and employ Business Intelligence depend on the veracity or the data as well as the data analysts and architects.
Covey offers 13 behaviors that are based on enduring principles that govern success. Based on integrity and credibility, they apply to all areas of an organization as well as life in general.
13 Behaviors
It takes twenty years to build your reputation and five minutes to ruin it.
As Covey describes it, the 13 behaviors reflect both character and competence.19 This is valuable to understand because “the quickest way to decrease trust is to violate a behavior of character, while the quickest way to increase trust is to demonstrate a behavior of competence.”
Behavior #1: Talk Straight
What we say is true and forthcoming—not just technically correct.
Straight talk is really about honesty. The ability and integrity to speak the truth with great clarity is essential for success today. Too much is happening too fast to be delayed by confusion or deception.
Strong leadership is necessary to create a culture of trust. Straight talk from top management is essential for success.
Behavior #2: Demonstrate Respect
I try to treat people as human beings. . . . If they know you care, it brings out the best in them.
Demonstrating respect builds trust on all levels. Expansion into global markets brings exposure to new customs and manners that need to be understood and integrated. This creates the space for unparalleled innovation and collaboration.
Behavior #3: Create Transparency
Creating transparency involves telling the truth in a way that can be verified. This means not hiding mistakes and information. Leaders who come from a place of authenticity and transparency are rewarded with loyalty and trust.
Behavior #4: Right Wrongs
To be an effective leader, one must practice humility. Mistakes are expected in a dynamic, innovative company. And no one is immune from them. To admit mistakes and make restitution, when necessary, is a sign of great integrity.
Behavior #5: Show Loyalty
To retain those who are present, be loyal to those who are absent.
To demonstrate and encourage loyalty, it is important to acknowledge the contributions of others and offer praise freely. Leaders who speak about people as though they were present and show respect for their privacy gain the trust of those who are present.
Behavior #6: Deliver Results
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
As a full participant in any organization, it is crucial to establish a track record of delivering results. However, it is also important to know what to deliver. This involves understanding how results will be implemented and making sure the results have value to the organization.
In a dynamic organization, individuals enjoy a lot more autonomy. Proactive behavior invigorates the system and moves the organization forward. It is good to underpromise and overdeliver.
Behavior #7: Get Better
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
A practice of continual learning is essential for the growth of both the organization and the individual. Improving skills and knowledge in your current area of expertise as well as learning through collaboration with other areas leads to exponential growth. Developing formal and informal feedback systems are essential to support learning.
Behavior #8: Confront Reality
Leaders need to be more candid with those they purport to lead. Sharing good news is easy. When it comes to the more troublesome negative news, be candid and take responsibility. Don’t withhold unpleasant possibilities and don’t pass off bad news to subordinates to deliver. Level with employees about problems in a timely fashion.
When times are tough, confronting reality requires obligated courage. True leaders share the truth at all times and address the difficult issues directly.
Behavior #9: Clarify Expectations
When communicating within an organization, clarity of word and deed is very powerful. Effective communication and feedback are essential for ensuring that everyone understands what is expected. It is dangerous to assume otherwise.
Behavior #10: Practice Accountability
Personal accountability fuels trust and mobilizes an organization for growth. Leaders must set the standard by holding themselves accountable. Then they are in integrity and can hold others accountable. Avoid blaming others when things go wrong.
Behavior #11: Listen First
I have found that the two best qualities a CEO can have are the ability to listen and to assume the best motives in others.
As discussed in Chapter 3, truly listening is an art that takes intention and effort. But the value of this practice is significant. To understand someone, it is necessary to listen with your eyes, ears, and heart. Seek to learn what is important to others. This is the first step toward accessing the plethora of untapped wisdom in organizations.
Behavior #12: Keep Commitments
Stand up for what’s right, in small matters and large ones, and always do what you promise.
Covey calls this the “Big Kahuna” of all behaviors. It is a fundamental building block of trust and is essential for effective collaboration.
Behavior #13: Extend Trust
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.
Great leaders demonstrate a propensity to trust. When members of an organization extend trust to others, it fosters a collaborative environment. Learn from those who break the bond of trust.
COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
The telephone might be considered the first collaborative technology, followed by fax and e-mail. However, in the last few years, the advances in newer forms of collaborative technology are transforming business efficiency and accessibility worldwide. The use of collaborative software enhances the ability of an organization to adapt quickly in a volatile economy.
Collaborative Technology Adoption
In Collaboration 2.0, David Coleman and Stewart Levine offer five stages of collaborative technology adoption that are typical in any large enterprise. The stages of growth resemble those of any enterprise-level technology adoption cycle.20
Stage 1: Traditional collaboration. Typical technologies that fall into this group are phone, face-to-face meetings, e-mail, and fax. They enable the quick distribution of material but lack the ability to unite a team in real time.
Stage 2: Specific application. As limitations appear in Stage 1, individual business units and departments adopt tools that enable group interaction and sharing online. This might include audio, video and data conferencing, instant messaging, chat and presence detection, and virtual team spaces (online meeting space).
Stage 3: Collaborative proliferation. As collaboration grows, adoption increases across the company. Unfortunately, there is very little coordination around which technology to use, leading to security issues and problems for information technology (IT).
Stage 4: Consolidation and standardization. To improve overall efficiency, IT takes the lead of selecting a company-wide vendor that meets the needs of the organization. Measurements of users, meetings, and minutes provide insights for the adoption cycle.
Stage 5: Virtual work environment. In this final stage, collaboration is fully embraced and adds value as it connects the organization with customers, suppliers, and partners as well as other organizations. Usage is continuously analyzed to improve flow and functionality.
Research suggests that very few organizations have reached stage 5.
Steps to Collaborative Technology Adoption
Step 1: Assess the environment. This step involves analyzing the infrastructure and collaborative technologies as well as the existing collaborative behaviors. Additional analysis on the potential affect of the application of technologies is recommended. Managers and key stakeholders need to understand the value proposition that improved collaboration will bring as well as how to phase in the technology. A global assessment in conjunction with IT is important to understand the complete ramifications and develop “a corporate-wide strategy for the successful deployment of collaboration technologies going forward.”21
Step 2: Identify collaborative business processes. Some business processes are more conducive to collaboration. The next step is to identify business processes that will benefit from “collaborative leverage.” These processes typically include sales and marketing, customer service and support, research and development, training, decision support, and crisis management.
Step 3: Build a collaborative vision. Creating a shared vision and extolling the benefits of collaboration is the next step. It can be done through workshops and trainings. The use of case studies and examples built around critical business processes is most effective.
Step 4: Build a business case for collaboration. This step involves estimating the costs, benefits, and risks involved in implementing the vision. It must specify the business problems being addressed, the value of the collaboration platform, and who will fund the initiative. Total cost of ownership should be used to determine the net benefit of the project, including direct and indirect costs. The benefits that factor in include but are not limited to shorter cycle times, increased productivity, revenues, profitability and market share, fewer errors, and better-quality products and services.
Step 5: Identify a sponsor. Identification of an executive sponsor who believes in the project and will allocate funds to see it through to its final stages is an essential step in the success of any project. The sponsor should be someone who is likely to benefit from collaboration and will be a champion for the project within the organization.
Step 6: Develop a collaboration strategy. A strategy for implementation should be developed that supports the overall goals of the project.
This strategy involves determining which technologies already exist and if they should be replaced or integrated into the larger network. Process maps are useful in determining which business processes can be improved. A gap analysis is recommended to find areas where:
• The infrastructure may need to be upgraded.
• Security policies may need to be revised.
• Training and education will improve adoption rates.
• Processes may need to be streamlined.
The strategy should include initial projects where collaboration delivers quick wins. Strong project management and communication around progress are essential to successful implementation.
Step 7: Select collaboration technology. The next step is a careful vendor analysis that addresses the appropriateness of the offerings as well as the vendor’s financial viability, track record, training, and support. A return on investment analysis that details the actual costs and benefits is strongly recommended.
Step 8: Pilot project. A pilot project is a good next step to get the project off and running. The application that is selected should be one that will have a substantial impact and positive results. This success can be used to sell the concept throughout the organization.
Step 9: Enterprise rollout. This step leverages the success and learning from the pilot project. The steps for enterprise rollout are to:
• Prioritize the business units.
• Identify necessary resources.
• Define the education and training process.
• Define the support process.
• Define the metrics.
It is easy to underestimate the complexity of this process. It is important to facilitate communication so that issues and delays will surface quickly.
Step 10: Measure and report. To achieve the greatest value from the entire process, it is critical to continually monitor, measure, and report the adoption and usage of collaborative technologies for each business case. Publicity about successes as well as compensation for adoption and usage should be considered as ways to ensure success.
As collaboration technology improves, the pressure to adopt will only increase. Organizations that embrace collaboration are going to raise the competitive bar. The use of technology is essential to survival in a dynamic organization.
Crafting Collaboration
Informal collaborative communities are springing up across the globe as people from a variety of industries share best practices around a common interest. Such communities, or networks, are shown to have substantial benefits when they succeed in solving huge problems or generating valuable ideas.
Despite the huge potential returns, few managers adequately invest in developing these kinds of networks (or) deliberately design them to foster measureable business results. One reason for this is the misperception that networks, which are essentially self-governing communities, draw their energy from common enthusiasms and a shared sense of purpose and this cannot be managed.22
However, real-world evidence suggests that there is benefit to actively managing some aspects of collaborative communities, albeit not in a typical style. Top-down directives and individual performance incentives have the potential to undermine these communities. “Success comes from applying the same rigor, time, and attention to the ‘soft issues’ of designing and managing human connections that managers ordinarily apply to structural decisions about capital investment, logistics, and technology.”
Cartography of Connections The first step in managing collaborative communities is to map the relationships within the community and look for patterns. The patterns of collaboration are given visibility using an organizational network analysis, a type of analysis that originated in the 1930s, “when Jacob Moreno set out to map the relationships of people in social groups in an attempt to reliably represent the ways in which group dynamics (like friendships, ostracism, popularity, and unpopularity) emerge.” The approach used today is based on complex mathematics and probabilities.
Moreno pioneered the sociogram, a network analysis tool that maps interactions and offers quantitative insights into the community. A typical map displays “network density” of the system, which reveals the number of actual connections compared to the total possible connections (everyone to everyone). Another detectable measure is “community cohesion,” which averages the shortest paths and the smallest number of connections between any two people, thus showing how close or distant the connections are overall. The members who tend to be found on the short paths are known as natural brokers.
Strategic Emergence A baseline sociogram can reveal existing problems and areas where network connections can be strengthened. For example, companies that are organized into silos can connect individuals around a common expertise.
A database containing this information, as well as demographics and hobbies, is a worthwhile investment. These data can be leveraged in numerous ways to encourage collaboration. For example, event planners can use these data for seating designs or to assign individuals to breakout work groups. At one event, a technology company used the data to code each participant’s badge with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. As attendees mingled, their badges glowed when they neared someone with similar interests. The computers tracked the connections in real time and built a sociogram on a large projection screen. By the end of the evening, “a poorly connected network had evolved into a richly linked community of practice.”
Leveraging Natural Brokers Increased connectivity will always improve collaboration. Nevertheless, there are ways to strategicly leverage the placement of natural brokers to maximize the improvement.
One effective tactic is to identify natural brokers and offer them incentives to reach across organizational silos. In one case study, a company identified five natural brokers and asked them to get to know two specific people in other parts of the organization. They also participated in regular calls with each other to share learning. A comparison of the sociogram before and after the process show improved cohesion of the network by 22 percent. In The Craft of Connection, Laseter and Cross describe how communities of practice are built with natural brokers:
Better communities of practice can be built not only by leveraging natural brokers who already exist, but also by increasing or amplifying the personal network connections of critically placed people. Research has shown that one of the consistent differentiators of high performers is their tendency to maintain ties outside their unit and outside their organization. Using coaching, mentoring, or career development efforts to help a greater number of strategically important people diversify their networks can have a powerful impact on the individual and on the community as a whole.
Global Connection The use of social network analysis holds great promise for understanding and managing collaboration in highly interconnected and increasingly global communities of knowledge works. “Naturally occurring communities of practice offer a powerful vehicle for this. Managers can directly shape the relationships and information flows by providing better information access, by assigning roles such as formally designated ‘Global advisors,’ and by working with individual informal ‘brokers.’ ”
COLLABORATION IN ACTION: A CASE STUDY
Competition has been the driving force behind the U.S. freight rail industry and related public policy since the first railroad began operations in 1830. This is a curious phenomenon for a contiguous “network” of railroads within a transportation “system.” With competition in the marketplace and competition for government attention as the prevailing influences, the system continues to underutilize rail technology, even though railroads move freight on one-third the amount of fuel and consequent air pollution as trucks moving on the highway. In the following section Michael Sussman, founder of OnTrackAmerica, describes how collaboration is helping to rebuild and strengthen the national railway system.
Power of Collaboration in the Railroad Industry
Railroads are energy, capital, and space efficient. Yet their market share of an otherwise growing transportation demand has continually declined since the early twentieth century. What is it about this competition-based system that suppresses the use of efficient modes of transportation?
Competition, as a commercial and regulatory principle, often rewards better-operated companies. But it is usually ineffective at preventing companies that enjoy more financial and political clout from dominating the marketplace. How often in recent years has that domination had a detrimental impact on our greater communal interests? The country needs a rail system that advances in concert with our national needs; instead, it has developed according to its corporate needs.
In 1995 it became apparent that many smaller freight railroads across America were undersupported by policy makers and lending institutions. This threatened the long-term economic vitality and overall quality of life in America.
The railroad industry was cost-cutting by consolidating service to higher-volume components of the rail system. This path, while leading to greater profitability for the industry, contributed to a far less efficient transportation system than was called for by post-World War II demographic and business trends. The years since have been characterized by dramatic population growth, steadily increasing freight traffic, ongoing growth of rural and urban communities, and the proliferation of small businesses, distribution centers, and time-sensitive shipping needs. The trucking industry, in spite of its inherent fuel disadvantage, has filled this service gap ably. But with the increase in fuel prices and its uncertain future availability, the question becomes “Now what?”
To satisfy the imperative for collaboration between government and private sector, a broad network of relationships with government representatives at the federal and state levels was established. The success in bridging the public-private sector communications divide led to the founding of OnTrackAmerica, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating new methods and forums for the multistakeholder development of better policies and more effective private initiatives.
This collaborative approach has proven to be been highly effective in creating financing breakthroughs for smaller freight railroads. Project and industry funding options typically are offered by individual entities competing against other funding sources. This alternative approach leads to benefit for all involved by facilitating cooperation among multiple banks and government agencies. In practice, it has resulted in significantly higher capitalization levels with better terms than if those funding sources were made to compete for the entire project.
Even the clients’ existing bankers, who previously had declined further lending, are included in this collaborative approach. Rather than being pitted against other banks, the current bank is urged to offer what it can and what it prefers, as its part of an overall strategy for helping the client grow.
In the case of the Iowa Northern Railway, a corn-hauling railroad that was suddenly in the heart of the alternative energy belt, additional capital was required that outstripped the lending limits of its local bank. A collaborative approach provided bankers at Iowa’s Lincoln Savings Bank with the understanding and assurance they needed to expand the railroad’s credit from $150,000 to over $1.5 million. This facility became the anchor for $30 million in additional funds secured from a Federal Railroad Administration loan program, a Chicago regional bank, several equipment lenders, and even the railroads’ customers and suppliers.
The basic orientation of competition is toward individual gain. Yet so much of what occurs in business involves multiple parties, with all parties benefiting if success is shared. Shared benefit and the resulting gain are the foundation of collaboration. What if our “for individual gain” concept of competition was reoriented to a competition (or striving) to make the greatest contribution to the community? That model of competition would naturally lead to a refocus of business plans and activities toward “collaboration for the common good.”
While competition is a useful tool in certain elements of regulating private interests in the marketplace, it can be a dangerously wasteful force in public policy discourse and formulation. Competition, unfortunately, is now the overarching principle of interaction, not just between political parties but also among agencies, legislative offices, committees, think tanks, universities, and other entities that influence and produce public policies. The marketplace of ideas should continue to accommodate competing ideas. But the process for thinking and teasing out competing ideas requires our best collaboration.
Our world and our economies are undergoing changes at a rate that demands we upgrade public-sector management processes. OnTrackAmerica has taken on the challenge of bringing forward a new method for large-scale industrial policy, planning, and implementation. By lowering antagonism and increasing trust among businesspeople, academic and industry experts, the community, and policy developers, the potential emerges for unveiling the best solutions and resulting public policy. Just as cooperative multimodal relations among transportation providers are now clearly needed to advance the efficiency of the overall system, collaboration among public policy creators is the necessary ingredient for improving our national transportation policy.
Design improvements for intelligence and efficiency at the level of governance do not have to wait for the crucible of crisis. No law or regulation mandates that business must depend only on competitive, vested-interest lobbying of government legislators and policy makers. All well-intentioned citizens are entitled to advance leadership and cooperation in government and commerce. Contrary to what is expressed in popular culture, many people in Washington and beyond are anxious to participate in productive collaborative engagement. A new model of leadership that convenes and facilitates that collaboration is the missing ingredient.
NOTES
1 Interview of John Chambers by Bronwyn Fryer and Thomas A. Stewart, “Cisco Sees the Future,” Harvard Business Review 86, No. 10 (November 2008), 72-79.
2 Evan Rosen, The Culture of Collaboration (San Francisco: Red Ape Publishing, 2007), 9.
3 Id., 9-15.
4 Id., 212- 213.
5 David Cooperrider, “Appreciative Inquiry and the Conscious Evolution of Chaordic Organizations,” Inneredge 3, No. 1 (February/March 2000), 13.
6 Id., 13-14.
7 David L. Cooperrider and Leslie E. Sekerka, “Toward a Theory of Positive Organizational Change,” in Positive Organizational Scholarship, ed. Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert E. Quinn (San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003), 231.
8 Id., 227-231.
9 Id., 227.
10 Id.
11 Russell K. Elleven, “Appreciative Inquiry: A Model for Organizational Development and Performance Improvement in Student Affairs,” 2007, www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32297462_ITM.
12 Cooperrider and Sekerka, “Toward a Theory of Positive Organizational Change,” 227.
13 D. I. Cooperrider and D. Whitney, “A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry,” in Appreciative Inquiry, Rethinking Human Organizations towards a Positive Theory of Change, ed. D. L. Cooperrider, P. F. Sorensen Jr., D. Whitney, and T. F. Yeager (Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing, 1999), 18.
14 Cooperrider and Sekerka, “Toward a Theory of Positive Organizational Change,” 231.
15 Christopher Laszlo and Jean-François Laugel, Large-Scale Organizational Change (Boston: Butterworth Heinemann, 2000), 30-31.
16 Id.
17 Patricia Aburdene, Megatrends 2010 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing, 2007), xiv.
18 Margaret J. Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers, A Simpler Way (San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler, 1996), 83.
19 Steven M. R. Covey, The Speed of Trust (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), 133-229.
20 David Coleman and Stewart Levine, Collaboration 2.0 (Silicon Valley, CA: HappyAbout.info, 2008), 227-246.
21 Id., 223.
22 Tim Laseter and Rob Cross, “The Craft of Connection,” Autumn 2006, www.strategy-business.com/press/freearticle/06302. The quotes that follow in this section are all from Laseter and Cross’s article.
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