Cisco CTO's 5 Predictions for the Future of Collaboration

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The Real challenge is not in technology ...

Ms. Warrior's predictions will almost likely come true. However, while
technology can give us capabilities, human beings decide whether or
not to actually use technology -- and history is littered with instances
of great technology that didn't amount to a hill of beans.

Collaboration is critical simply because - as I argue in my book, The
Spider's Strategy (FT Press, Sept 2008) - we no longer live in a world
in which individual companies joust against others; today, networks of
companies challenge other networks. In this world, no company can
win if its network is failing.

Collaboration technology is necessary in this world, but it is not
sufficient. Without a corporate strategy that makes collaboration
central to the organization, without processes that enable sensing-
and-responding, without values that truly honor organizational
learning (instead of mere lip service) and without organizational
structures that focus on networks, collaboration technology won't
help. Here's one of many key tests: Does your company have policies
that encourage information sharing with outsiders? If not,
collaboration technology won't help you.

Companies that are addressing all of these issues - like Nokia - are at
the leading edge of a revolution that will rival the Lean Enterprise.
And just as Lean overturned our beliefs about "good management" so
will this revolution. And technology - as in the Lean world - will only
be a small (though important) piece of the puzzle.

Posted by: asmukherjee@...   Posted on: 04/27/09 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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