“You’re already self employed. When are you going to start acting like it?”
Seth Godin
Themes. Clusters. After 12+ years of presenting synopses and briefings of business books, I clearly see that there are patterns, themes, clusters of books dealing with similar problems and pointing us in similar directions. Here is one really obvious, and important such theme.
We need to learn to collaborate – or perish.
Why? Because:
• Because “I” don’t know enough – “we are smarter than any “me”
• Because the problems may be really, really big
• Because the knowledge obtained through collaboration will make your decisions/actions better
• Because the knowledge is more available than anyone could have ever imagined…
This phrase (collaborate – or perish) is a direct quote from Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. Here’s the more complete quote:
Peer production is a very social activity. All one needs is a computer, a network connection, and a bright spark of initiative and creativity to join in the economy.
These changes are ushering us toward a world where knowledge, power, and productive capability will be more dispersed than at any time in our history – a world where value creation will be fast, fluid, and persistently disruptive. A world where only the connected will survive. A power shift is underway, and a tough new business rule is emerging: Harness the new collaboration or perish. Those who fail to grasp this will find themselves ever more isolated – cut off from the networks that are sharing, adapting, and updating knowledge to create value.
We must collaborate or perish – across borders, cultures, disciplines, and firms, and increasingly with masses of people at one time.
The principle: we all have to work “together” to build the future. And even though we each work in a specific job, or in a specific company, the growing reality is that we are free agents. For an increasing number of people each year, we have no idea where we will be working, for whom we will be working, this time next year. Job security is a thing of the past.
So collaboration is needed for two reasons: to succeed at any and every task we tackle, because “we” are smarter than “me” – and, to build that network of connections that we will all need, probably over and over again, to find and open that next work and life opportunity.
With whom shall we all collaborate? Recognize that anyone and everyone (from anywhere and everywhere) can be a collaboration partner. Thus we need to practice generalized reciprocity – “pay it forward;” “be generous.”
And in this collaborative era, we collaborate because it helps people, and it is the “right” thing to do. We do not collaborate to “get credit.” In fact, we don’t care who gets the credit — we share the credit, freely and generously. The result is what matters.
It truly is the collaborative era.
First Friday Book Synopsis 