Collaboration is an overused word. What is it??

This blog post is not as exciting as you might think from the title, but I just read a great article by Chris Yeh over at PBWiki and wanted to comment. He does a very good job of breaking down what collaboration is and why it is so important to businesses.

I really like this quote from his piece: “Capitalism is collaboration. Trade, comparative advantage, and Adam Smith’s invisible hand all presume the presence of collaboration.” It is so true that Corporations exist to provide the framework for collaboration. Why do we call businesses and non profits “organizations”? It is because they exist solely to organize people in a collaborative fashion to foster the end goal of that entity. If we had no need for collaboration, we would be a largely disperse group of Sole Proprietors!

Collaboration IS Capitalism…think about that one for a while and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who should I be collaborating with more often.
2. In what ways are my goals NOT being met because I am not collaborating.
3. How can I collaborate more efficiently in my daily work.
4. What habits can I change that will foster more collaboration and thus prosperity and goal achievement?
5. What change can I make today that will help me collaborate more often and with more effect?

I have never connected Capitalism as closely with Collaboration, but Chris sure did a great job of that in his article.

Now, go out there and collaborate!