"Getting to We"

Very good article on collaboration with a fresh perspective in Communications of the ACM. "Getting to We" by Peter J. Denning and Peter Yaholkovsky gets the focus off collaboration technology and back onto process, where it belongs. The authors start off on the right foot (and thanks to ShiftMode and Mark Roseman for the crumbs leading back to this feast):

Messes are large, complex, seemingly intractable situations that no one can find a way out of. The most tangled messes are called "wicked problems" because people can't even agree on what the problem is and because the solution will almost surely entail a disruptive innovation. Collaboration is essential for resolving messes.

They go on to talk about the clash between top-down and grassroots approaches to clear paths through the wicked problems, quickly dispense with the idea that technology will a priori make things less wicked, then go on to propose a simple five-stage collaboration model that makes sense to me. Besides, it builds on  David Cooperrider's work in Appreciative Inquiry, David Straus's collaboration "Method," and Charrettes, the intensive workshop process associated with architects and used far more broadly. (Disclosure: Both Davids are friends.) Five steps from "Getting to We:"

1. Declare. Someone states that there's a problem and the group agrees that something needs to be done.
2. Connect. This is the moment for the long hello as people working on the problem get to know one another and let on to their fears and dreams.
3. Listen and learn. Open-mindedness and open-earedness reign here. Possibly the toughest part of collaboration, in my experience.
4. Allow "we" to develop. Worth direct quote here: "The mess may start to unravel as the members become aware of and take care of their interlocking concerns. Occasionally, the mess will evaporate in the light of the reconfigured concerns of 'we'."
5. Create together. The fun part.