Articles & Publications

By Doug Williams | ideaslaboratory.com
Published: June 23, 2014

glaser-innovation-excellence-panelThe following is an article excerpt - See more at: http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2014/06/23/getting-past-the-barriers-to-collaboration/#sthash.AXUNJ6Ls.dpuf

'Not-invented-here' syndrome is a rallying call for some who cling to the notion that innovation must come from within the company to have any value....

There may be more at play here than agreeing on a common definition for a specific term like collaboration. A different term altogether may be required in order to find a new way of working and innovating. At an Innovation Excellence hosted panel discussion earlier this year, Judith Glaser, CEO and founder of Benchmark Communications, made the point that human beings need to change the brain to accept a new way of looking at the world. The context of the discussion at that moment was related to the disruption occurring today in religion, but as you’ll see, Ms. Glaser’s specific comment is apropos to our topic:

The word collaboration, in the dictionary, is ‘cohorting with the enemy,’… The word you use every day… in our brain, to collaborate, is to cohort with the enemy. So you are always questioning whether the person you are interacting with is someone you can trust.

The word co-creation is not. It’s about creating the same picture of reality together. Instead of you and I having different realities and then fighting over whose reality is right, which is what we do most of the time when we defend our point of view, this all of a sudden changes the meaning of how human beings can engage with one another.

(You can access the video here; Ms. Glaser’s comments occur at the 20:29 mark.)

- See more at: http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2014/06/23/getting-past-the-barriers-to-collaboration/#sthash.AXUNJ6Ls.dpuf

 



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