Presentation at Interactions 2012 in London, on collaboration.

1. The Dangers of Pushing
Collaboration Too Far
Michael Sampson

2. About Michael
• Collaboration Strategist
– Author
– Workshop Leader
– Analyst
• Work with end-user organisations
• Making Collaboration Work
– Culture
– Governance
– Adoption

7. none all

8. none all
ideal band

9. Pushing Too Far …
1 Collaboration is not a silver bullet
2 Culture constrains collaboration
3 Personality impacts collaboration

10. 1
Collaboration is not a silver bullet

11. People have been collaborating
for all of human history.

12. 1
Micro-task collaboration can stifle
initiative and breakthrough thinking

13. project task
autonomy
meaning
low purpose
contribution

14. 1
The current emphasis on finding
experts could signal poor job design

15. Our intranet allows
us to find experts.

16. Our intranet allows
us to find experts.
But that could mean:
Our staff are undertrained.
We have hired the wrong people.
Our knowledge management system is broken.
There are unclear expectations about job roles.
People aren’t willing to make decisions.

17. 1
Adding more people increases
communication demands
(and decreases time available for working)

18. Frederick Brooks (1975)
The Mythical Man-Month
number of people
n(n-1)
=y
2
channels of communication

19. Frederick Brooks (1975)
The Mythical Man-Month
number of people
5(5-1)
= 10
2
channels of communication

20. Frederick Brooks (1975)
The Mythical Man-Month
number of people
40(40-1)
= 780
2
channels of communication

21. 1
While crowds may have wisdom,
they can also stimulate madness

22. Tapping the wisdom
of the crowd
But “following the crowd” isn’t always positive:
Financial crises
Investment bubbles, e.g., housing, Internet
Riots
Groupthink

23. 1 Summary
Collaboration is an old idea.

24. 1 Summary
It’s not a silver bullet.
Be intentional about its use.

25. 1 Danger
No appetite for collaboration
when it’s really needed.

26. 2
Culture constrains collaboration

27. 2
If the culture isn’t collaborative,
new technology won’t help

28. Groupware will .... not mysteriously transform
organizations from collections of highly
competitive loners to well integrated,
cooperative groups of collaborators. Without
careful planning for its introduction and the
changes that this will entail, the impact of
groupware will likely be quite limited. Successful
groupware implementation will require both a
careful assessment of the fit of the technology
to the organization and a well designed training
program to introduce this new technology and
its potential to the organization members.

29. Powerful VP in a discussion forum
“I think that’s a dumb idea.”
More broadly: “You aren’t paid to think.”

30. 2
“Collaboration” will be different
for different organisations

31. Sharing not-fully-formed ideas
Openness to the ideas of others
Shared exploration of decisions
Shared risk and reward

32. Apple
“We want excellent products. There is
no problem with shredding someone in
pursuit of excellent ideas.”

33. Pixar
Specially designed building—to create chance
encounters and serendipitous meetings.
And cross-training (common language)

34. 2
A culture that values efficiency above
all else will be poor at collaboration

35. in-person online
comprehension
trust
low cost
social capital

36. The Complex Project

37. Apollo vs. Challenger

38. You need to find the right balance.
Getting on a plane may be the best idea.

39. 2 Summary
Start with culture, not technology.

40. 2 Summary
If your culture is anti-collaborative,
you have (lots of) work to do

41. 2 Danger
New collaboration tools will
reinforce the cynicism

42. 3
Personality impact collaboration

43. extroverts introverts
people energy ideas
high stress low
talk method write
loud noise quiet
75% number 25%

44. Introverts can be your MVEs
(most valuable employees)
10x to 50x better than the “average”

45. 3
Introverts need quietness and
freedom from distractions

46. Can’t concentrate and
do their best work
E.g., may not want Yammer running continually

47. 3
Without trust and integrity,
introverts won’t give their best ideas

48. Will want time to contemplate.
Don’t want to give a heated answer.

49. E.g., they may not want to get into a
shouting match at a meeting

50. 3
Introverts need space for creativity,
deep thinking, and high performance

51. E.g., they may not want to put the
document into Interact Teams yet

52. E.g., they may not want to
“work out loud” on Yammer

53. 3 Summary
Personality impacts collaboration.

54. 3 Summary
Find an introvert at your work.
Learn how they collaborate best.

55. 3 Danger
Decreasing performance by
demanding collaboration

56. Closing Thoughts

57. Collaboration provides
a significant opportunity
for improving performance

58. But remember that …
1 Collaboration is not a silver bullet
2 Culture constrains collaboration
3 Personality impacts collaboration

59. Michael Sampson
@collabguy
michaelsampson.net