Collaboration comes before the problem

The Xpragmatic View #151
August 26, 2010
by Marc Buyens (@mbuyens), Xpragma
marc.buyens@xpragma.com
url: http://www.xpragma.com/view151.php
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Collaboration, the engine of the social enterprise. The magic that will solve all our enterprise problems. It sure can do. However, did we ever seriously think about 'when' collaboration must happen?

Last week, the following Twitter message got our attention since it linked the concepts of "collaboration" and "agility":

"Agile organisations are adept in dealing with change through real collaboration, which increases knowledge and decision speed"

OK, this is of course IT-speak. It is the usual type of statement that you will find in the presentations of technology vendors. It looks sensible, but it can mean virtually anything depending upon your interpretation of the words. Still, the statement might be correct, although we do not think the author of this message had the same things in mind as we do.

Collaboration and agility. It seems logical, but it isn't.

In the context of Enterprise 2.0, collaboration is too often positioned as "the thing that will solve problems". Typical examples of E2.0 presentations include statements such as finding the right expert, finding the information that we need, quickly solving the problem that is at hands... In the E2.0 space, there always seems to be a problem and collaboration will solve it. We push our problem into the Twitter stream and magic will happen.

It might. Sometimes it does.

However, that is not an agile system.

Agile systems are not systems that have a "panic button" installed to push when the problem drops in. Agile systems are systems that know how to deal with the problem when it arrives. They do not need collaboration at that moment; they simply take care of the problem.

This might be IT-speak also, so let us clarify.

Years ago, we wrote some stuff about Agile Virtual Enterprises (AVE's). AVE's are essentially a grouping of companies that together take care of a major project. The reason for this grouping is that the size or the complexity of the project exceeds the capabilities of a single company. So, a team is formed.

Team members are selected for their competence in specific domains and the interactions between the group members are governed by clear rules regarding tasks and responsibilities. When a problem arrives, there is no need to send Twitter messages; the AVE knows which team member(s) will take care of it. That's the reason they are in the team.

So, in a regular enterprise that wants to carry the label "agile" similar rules have to apply. At the moment a problem drops in, we should not be starting to look for the right expert. The right expert should already be known and already be working on the problem.

And collaboration?

Well, collaboration is the thing that must be done BEFORE the problem kicks in. It is in the moments that no major issue is at hands that we have to collaborate, understanding each other's strengths, defining the interactions that will govern our future working together.

In our previous life, collaboration happened at coffee breaks, at beerbusts, at lunches. It happened when people mailed some piece of code they had written, not because we needed it, but just in case, perhaps we were interested... It almost never happened when there was a problem at hands. At that moment, the right individuals were taking care of it. No need to worry. We would hear the story at the next coffee break and learn from it.

Today, E2.0 solutions have given us other ways of collaborating, but these rules still apply.

Of course, a company must give room for "real" collaboration, also outside the formal flow of work, which is often difficult to accept, since at that moment there's really nothing to take care of. Still, it is at these moments that real agility is created.

About Marc Buyens

Marc Buyens is analyst, management consultant and owner of Xpragma. He started Xpragma in 1999 after a 20+ years career in the IT sector. Today, he provides advice, training and mentoring services focusing on the intersection of technological evolution, organisational change and business strategy: a messy world of unfulfilled promises.

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