Dark Side of Collaboration
On Agile teams, collaboration is the way of life. Our leaders want their team members to work closely with each other, have shared goals and even think as one entity. Why? Because we believe that collaboration leads to happier, more productive teams that can build innovative products/services.
It's strange that companies use the word collaboration very tightly with innovation. Collaboration is based on consensus building, which rarely leads to visionary or revolutionary products/services. Innovative/disruptive concepts require people to independently test out divergent ideas without getting caught up in collaborative boardroom meetings.
In this presentation, Naresh Jain explores the scary, unspoken side of collaboration and explains in what context, collaboration can be extremely important; and when it can get in the way or be a total waste of time.
Outline/Structure of the Talk
- Quick overview of collaboration and what it means
- Deterrents for Collaboration (Why collaboration is hard)
- Diversity - its meaning, purpose, objective and diversity in action
- Introvert vs. Extrovert
- Group-think Phenomenon
- Drive - Autonomy, Mastery and Sense of Purpose
- Design by Committee vs. Design by Community
- Cynefin Framework to guide when to collaborate
Learning Outcome
- Challenge the dogma that is killing creativity on Agile projects
- Better appreciation for team mates who don't want to collaborate all the time
- Understanding when to collaborate and when to do solo-deep thinking
Target Audience
Anyone who forces Collaboration down other people's throats and people who don't like collaboration
Links
This talk was presented as a keynote at the following conferences:
- Agile Roots conference - http://www.agileroots.com/presentation/the-dark-side-of-collaboration/
- Agile India 2016 Conference - https://confengine.com/agile-india-2016/proposal/1483/dark-side-of-collaboration
