The Culture of Collaboration [Hardcover]

Evan Rosen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The in-box culture is dead," insists Rosen, so information workers need to learn how to come together on projects spontaneously in real time, instead of handling assignments alone and passing them down the line. He sees electronic tools like instant messaging and video conferencing as indispensable for collaboration, particularly for people who work thousands of miles apart. But, he cautions, such tools will only be effective for companies that actively promote informal, nonhierarchical relationships to spark innovation among their employees (similar to the way smokers from different departments can bond out on the sidewalk). To support his argument, he makes much use of anecdotal evidence from companies like Toyota, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, Dreamworks and the Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, once readers clear a path through buzzwords like "optimum collaboration environments" and "global collaborative enterprise," Rosen's insights are pretty obvious and his advice can seem simplistic. "Communication is a key element in collaboration" goes one such observation, "therefore an organization must communicate well to collaborate effectively." Little here will surprise experienced managers.
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Review

"Prepare to be stunned by dramatic results never before seen in fields ranging from aerospace to medical research. Evan Rosen's The Culture of Collaboration shows how"
— Scott Cook
Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee
Intuit

"The principles of collaboration and leadership described in Evan Rosen's book coupled with trust and a common set of values provide the foundation for NASA's Mission Control Operations. The Flight Director's role is to create the Culture of Collaboration that is critical for safe and successful spaceflight. It was a key element in the successful return of the Apollo 13 crew."
— Eugene F. "Gene" Kranz
Flight Director, Apollo 13
Author, Failure is Not an Option

"People drive business results in the new world of work. The Culture of Collaboration captures the essence of how lifestyles, work styles and even business models are evolving. Evan Rosen makes a persuasive case through timely and strong examples from multiple industries that collaborative culture creates incredible value and competitive advantage for businesses."
— Jeff Raikes
CEO, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Former President, Microsoft

"A fascinating 360-degree view of collaboration in action, The Culture of Collaboration is filled with insights that bring new meaning to the changing workplace, globalization and the accelerating Internet revolution."
— Douglas E. Van Houweling
President and CEO
Internet2

"A cultural shift is rapidly changing how we work, learn and interact. Evan Rosen captures this shift and provides incredible insight into how collaboration changes everything. The Culture of Collaboration is a must read."
— Jimmy Wales
Founder, Wikipedia.org and Wikia.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Red Ape Publishing; 1st edition (January 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097746170X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977461707
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been helping organizations collaborate and communicate more effectively. That work has culminated in two books on collaboration. The latest book is
The Culture of Collaboration, which describes how collaborative culture is changing business models and how we work. In the mid-1990's, I wrote the first book on PC-based videoconferencing. I also write for business and technology magazines. I continue to speak at corporate, government and other events and conduct workshops and seminars.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical guide to collaboration in the workplace November 3, 2007

By K. Sampanthar VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The Summary
Evan Rosen has consolidated the latest ideas on collaboration and brought them together into an informative and practical book. Collaboration is becoming more and more important whether you are trying to manage a global workforce or just need to get stove-pipe departments to work together you will learn a lot from this book.

The Audience
The Culture of Collaboration is a practical guide aimed at anyone interested in fostering collaboration in their workplaces. Managers and leaders should definitely check this book out. The ideas around collaboration with a multi-cultural and global work force are extremely interesting to anyone leading off-shore initiatives. The book is full of practical advice that can be leveraged immediately.

The Details
There have been a number of books recently on collaboration from Group Genius, X-Teams to some older titles like `Organizing Genius' and `How Breakthroughs Happen'. There have also been many books on recent technologies that leverage the genius of groups i.e. wikinomics, the wealth of networks. Evan Rosen's book brings all these elements together from the technologies, tools, and theories around collaboration into a practical guide. This is not by any means a lightweight `how-to' guide, but more of a roadmap to not only understand the power of collaboration but also to leverage it in your organization.
Rosen explains the principles of collaboration through personal stories and examples from some new and unique sources. Other books on collaboration use examples from the usual suspects Lockheed's SunkWorks and IDEO but Rosen draws examples from the Mayo Clinic, George Lucas's ILM (Industrial Light and Magic), Boeing and Toyota. The choice of the Mayo clinic was surprising at first and then as Rosen explained the culture behind how the clinic was started and some of their collaborative practices; it became obvious that this was an important and often over-looked example of a collaborative and innovative environment.
While the first half of the book explores the current trends and the need for collaboration, the last few chapters bring the ideas of collaboration together into a practical guide that is worth the price of the book alone. How to use collaboration tools to foster the right culture, which tools to use to solve different issues and challenges and advice to managers and leaders on fostering collaboration.

The Ideas:
Rosen draws from some unique examples and there were many ideas that made me think:
- Presence - the use of tools like IM to foster collaboration across teams. Being able to tell if someone is available or not. The in-box culture is dead and now replaced by tools that incorporate elements of `Presence'
- Why Smoking can get you promoted - ok that wasn't the point that was made, but Rosen does explain that conversations and groups that form around stepping outside for a `smoke', can generate the kind of cross-functional and cross-hierarchical connections that companies need.
- Mayo Clinic's SPARC - as an example of collaboration at work. SPARC gets people out of their usual roles into cross-functional groups in a custom built innovative lab, an open area called the `program support space' which is fitted with everything any innovative group would need.

The Take-Away:
I can't emphasize the practical nature of this book enough. If you are going to read only one book on collaboration and you want to walk away with a guide to foster collaboration at work, then this is the book to get. This is a well written and engaging book and well worth the investment in time to read.

Kes Sampanthar
Inventor of ThinkCube

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read on business collaboration. March 7, 2007

By Richard Midkiff

Format:Hardcover

In this very interesting and useful book, the author shows how collaboration creates value in business. This is unlike other boring business books I've read, this one's easy to read, well-illustrated, and thought-provoking. This book gives real-world examples from a variety of different industries and shows that a collaborative organizational culture is what sets apart large companies like Toyota, Boeing and Procter & Gamble. Rosen also includes DreamWorks Animation, Industrial Light & Magic, the Mayo Clinic, the Myelin Repair Foundation and others. Besides culture, the author covers tools, processes and workplace environment. I highly recommend this book.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Working Together to Create Value March 22, 2007

By Daniel Wolf

Format:Hardcover

This book drives deep into the communication technology and organization behavior issues that support collaboration. The author identifies a series of cultural elements that serve to frame effective collaboration within companies and between supply chain partners, responding to the realities of our more economically networked business world.

Rosen's working definition of collaboration involves "working together to create value while sharing virtual or physical space..." His elements of collaboration include trust, environment and communication.

The "presence" of people, ideas, and action in collaborative cultures serves to speed the flow of development, planning and decision making. Net leadership becomes more dispersed, broader discernment is possible, stronger interactions are experienced, and organizations gain bench strength. The proper physical and virtual environment, combined with the right communication resources enables collaborative cultures.

This book also has a very informative section on the technical and operational tools that support communication and collaboration. It's helpful to have a communications expert frame the challenges and opportunities.