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The Collaboration Equation: Strong Professionals Strong Teams Strong Delivery
The organizations we work for destroy confidence We starve professionals of information, direction, psychological safety, and purpose by isolating workers in cubicles, teams into silos, and decisions into oblivion. Individuals drift and become alienated, waiting for direction that never comes. This way of working…is not working. When individuals work in teams, they create value The Collaboration Equation helps individuals be professionals, teams take pride in their work, and companies become more resilient. This guide enables you to build visual systems where people can see their work and create cultures with the “Right Environment” so they can mind their system. Stop languishing in costly mediocrity Practical collaborative work creates its own rewards, its own psychological safety, its own agency, and its own quality control. It abhors defects, hidden issues, and poor communication and has the guts to work for real success.
The Collaboration Equation is a dynamic approach that draws from a lifetime of building collaborative systems to help readers create cultures where individuals know what success looks like, talk about it regularly, and achieve common goals. Scroll Up And Grab Your Copy Today!
The Collaboration Equation is a dynamic approach that draws from a lifetime of building collaborative systems to help readers create cultures where individuals know what success looks like, talk about it regularly, and achieve common goals. Scroll Up And Grab Your Copy Today!
- GenresLeadershipManagement
328 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2022
30 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 24, 2023
The title of this book is a bit misleading. You won't find there any equation, magic formula, or framework to copy-paste in order to alleviate all the problems organizations face. Instead, you may discover a methodical approach to building a collaboration system, unique and tailored to your team/org.
The ideas presented here are simple - visual management, psychological safety, transparency, setting explicit and reasonable expectations, allowing people to their job effectively, and trusting in their judgment - but they are not easy to implement. This book helps to notice anti-collaborative patterns and presents a way to fix them. It doesn't promise an easy or quick process but when done right, it can improve not only collaboration but also the effectiveness and well-being of the people involved.
I'm afraid that some readers might shrug this book off and say it's just common sense. But as we know common sense is not so common. Ideas presented here come from decades of experience - not some lofty slogans and manifests - just good old practice. And often practice is counterintuitive to popular notions, e.g. micromanagement might be helpful or even necessary, self-organizing teams might be new corporate silos, and Agile might make teams very fragile.
I find this book a bit chaotic. I had an opportunity to meet Jim and this book reads exactly how he talks :D Which is engaging but can be difficult to reference later on. I had problems with quickly finding specific passages, so use your notes, highlights, and bookmarks to their full extent.
The only thing I struggled with is the assumption that in the right environment, everyone is a professional - competent, responsible, communicative, and making sensible decisions (well, maybe except VPs and other senior leaders, who occasionally get a really bad rep in this book). I'd like to believe in this rule... but every rule has an exception. I'd love to read an extra chapter on how to deal with such exceptions that could spoil or slow down the collaborative effort.
I wholeheartedly share the author's vision of the collaborative system and the right environment. I'll surely reference this book often to find the inspiration and courage to push back on wasteful work and mindless practices that foster anti-collaborative behaviors.
The ideas presented here are simple - visual management, psychological safety, transparency, setting explicit and reasonable expectations, allowing people to their job effectively, and trusting in their judgment - but they are not easy to implement. This book helps to notice anti-collaborative patterns and presents a way to fix them. It doesn't promise an easy or quick process but when done right, it can improve not only collaboration but also the effectiveness and well-being of the people involved.
I'm afraid that some readers might shrug this book off and say it's just common sense. But as we know common sense is not so common. Ideas presented here come from decades of experience - not some lofty slogans and manifests - just good old practice. And often practice is counterintuitive to popular notions, e.g. micromanagement might be helpful or even necessary, self-organizing teams might be new corporate silos, and Agile might make teams very fragile.
I find this book a bit chaotic. I had an opportunity to meet Jim and this book reads exactly how he talks :D Which is engaging but can be difficult to reference later on. I had problems with quickly finding specific passages, so use your notes, highlights, and bookmarks to their full extent.
The only thing I struggled with is the assumption that in the right environment, everyone is a professional - competent, responsible, communicative, and making sensible decisions (well, maybe except VPs and other senior leaders, who occasionally get a really bad rep in this book). I'd like to believe in this rule... but every rule has an exception. I'd love to read an extra chapter on how to deal with such exceptions that could spoil or slow down the collaborative effort.
I wholeheartedly share the author's vision of the collaborative system and the right environment. I'll surely reference this book often to find the inspiration and courage to push back on wasteful work and mindless practices that foster anti-collaborative behaviors.
December 7, 2023
Simply awesome, foundational work.
One point off for the grammar issues that bothered me. Sorry, Jim!
One point off for the grammar issues that bothered me. Sorry, Jim!
October 16, 2022
Yet another instant classic from Jim, this time narrowly focused on collaboration and what that means working teams or even teams of teams. There's a great number of case studies that help explain the approach and practices around visual control systems and in particular Obeya's. I will need to read this book a couple more times to fully let it all sink in but I can already recommend it to a broad audience!
November 18, 2022
A great opportunity to install some of Jim's extensive experience into your brain. The book talks about the collaboration equation and expands into practical techniques, cultural cues, and change.
November 21, 2022
I was aware of Jim Benson from Personal Kanban, but wondered what else he did.
Well now, I know. TCE captures his decades of experience with Modus Cooperandi.
In this book he brings you real, practical, immediately implementable techniques to help teams to truly collaborate.
It's pitched at just the right level, not too light, not too heavy.
I recommend the print version over Kindle.
Highly recommended.
Well now, I know. TCE captures his decades of experience with Modus Cooperandi.
In this book he brings you real, practical, immediately implementable techniques to help teams to truly collaborate.
It's pitched at just the right level, not too light, not too heavy.
I recommend the print version over Kindle.
Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews