Miki Kashtan writes in the magazine One India One People: The scope of global problems, the increased challenges to sustainability, the growing heterogeneity of groups and teams, and the unprecedented access to information through the internet are all rendering centralised, command-and-control approaches ineffective. Collaboration is emerging as an attractive alternative because it increases flexibility and […]
You assigned a project to Jasmine. She assured you that it was on track. You checked with her a few times to see if she needed any support, and she said she was on top of it. Upon delivery, you find out that several key pieces were handled incorrectly and must be redone, which will […]
John and Jane (fictitious names), brother and sister, run a hotel in a small tourist town, featuring farm-to-table organic food and a commitment to environmental considerations entirely unfamiliar in their region. They’ve been aiming for some time to move away from top-down decision-making and shift toward a more collaborative culture. Because of distance and budget, […]
Crossposted at The Fearless Heart. The first time I heard that groups thrive on dissent, I didn’t like the idea. It came up in conversations with Tom Atlee of the Co-Intelligence Institute, back in the mid-1990s. Tom was clear, based on his experience in activist movements and especially on a cross-country peace march, that dissent […]
Some twenty years ago, I came across a phrase – “the taboo on tenderness” – coined by a not very well known early psychoanalyst, Ian Suttie, in his book The Origins of Love and Hate, published in 1935. Although I didn’t find the book particularly aligned with my approach, the phrase stuck with me. I […]
“Do we have to involve everyone in every decision for it to be collaborative? … Because if we do, I’m quitting my job.” I hear different versions of this question all the time. In the final weeks leading up to the launch of the Center for Efficient Collaboration, it showed up again – this time […]
Carla (not her real name) works in an organization that brings violence prevention programs to schools. She described her challenge in bringing the program to a particular school where she sees a clash of worldviews. This is an alternative school with values of inclusion, equality, and such, and yet many in the faculty tend towards […]
“Let’s just face it… There’s a philosophical difference here, and there’s no point in dialogue. Some of us think that a presumption of joint custody is just not a wise thing to do, and that’s all there is to it.” Ben (all names are fictitious), one of those present on a conference call in November […]
“Is there anyone who’s not ready for me to sign this contract?” Jeremy, the chief executive of a small manufacturing company, held up a pen and looked around the room. His core team of 25 stood looking at him. They knew this meant doubling production for a couple of months. No one spoke. I […]