John Seely Brown likes to describe himself as a "Chief of Confusion," who aims to help people ask the right questions. The former chief scientist of Xerox was once responsible for one of the world's most famous technology think tanks and far-ranging corporate research efforts. Now, as co-chair of Deloitte's new Center for Edge Innovation and visiting scholar at USC, he sees unprecedented opportunity for collective creativity. As we increasingly connect with each other across networked environments in an era of constant disruption, the potential positive impact of our individual tinkering and sharing grows exponentially.

In a recent post on the Harvard Business Review blog called "The Big Shift" that he writes with co-authors with John Hagel III and Lang Davison, John identifies some of the inherent tensions to consider when designing for scalable collaboration:

Defining Common Collaboration Tensions
Collaboration is one of those words that everybody loves and uses. At many companies, at least until the recession hit, collaboration was a mark of progressivity.

Popular as the word is, collaboration mostly goes undefined. A well-received global study in 2006, for instance, found that 70% of CEOs believe collaboration is crucial to their business. But the report itself lacked more than a vague definition of the term.

We're as guilty as the next--having used the word 16 times since we started posting here last January without ever defining it. Many people, we suspect, would define collaboration as any situation where people work together in a coordinated way to achieve common objectives and would include highly specified and synchronized coordination, such as traditional assembly line operations. But not all forms of collaboration are equally powerful. In a previous post we pointed to emerging examples of a "collaboration curve" in which the more people and interactions you add to a carefully designed environment, the more performance improves. How would we define this "scalable" form of collaboration? We'd start by exploring some inherent tensions:

With resources shrinking and complexity on the rise, many of us are at a loss to define new ways of sustaining high performance and creating value. But when you're out of fresh ideas, there is nothing so invigorating as getting outside your usual frame of reference to discover what's working in other industries, other sectors, or even other countries. This conference offers a breadth of experience unmatched in other learning events. Here's just a sampling from our concurrent session line-up:

"Teach Them Courage": U.S. Army's Jedi Warrior Training Program
Michelle Levey and Joel Levey, InnerWork Technologies, Inc.
Learn core principles and skills from the U.S. Army's acclaimed Ultimate Warrior Training Program that you can apply in your work. With practice, these core disciplines allow insight and intuition to deepen, courage and confidence to grow, health and performance to improve, and innovation to be guided by a wisdom congruent with the pressing needs of the times. more...

Digital Stories and Live Case Studies: New Practices for Today's Schools
MAK Mitchell and Andrew Gallagher, New York City Public Schools
Looking to create a ripple effect of learning across a large system? Over the past three years, digital storytelling and live case studies have emerged as powerful ways to communicate best practices from an "anchor school" to many other schools interested in adapting those practices in their own contexts. more...

The Physiology of Learning and Leading
Manoj Pawar, Memorial Health System
As the chief medical officer for a major healthcare delivery system, Manoj Pawar has effectively used his understanding of human physiology and neuroscience in his efforts to build a learning organization. What steps can you take to create an organizational environment that works with human physiology, rather than against it? more...

Co-Creating 21st-Century Leaders Through 21st-Century Tools
Debbie Plager and Christy Mihina, Allstate Insurance Company
Recent leadership research indicates that 60 percent of managers won't be able to make the necessary shifts to lead in the new business environment. What can you learn from Allstate Insurance's use of collaborative technologies (wikis, blogs, and web conferencing tools) to support a shared process of leadership development in your organization? more...

The Wind from the East: Systems Lessons for Lasting Organizations
Takeshi Shimamura, CTI Japan; Nao Konishi
In Japan, more than 3,000 companies have existed for more than 200 years each, while in the U.S., only 14 have reached that milestone. Learn how your organization can respond more effectively to opportunities and challenges by embracing new "ways of being" related to integrity, a systems perspective, and other concepts steeped in wisdom from the East. more...

Save on Full Conference Registration!
Less than 2 weeks remain to take advantage of the extended $400 discount off the full conference rate! Register by June 30 to secure your seat at the discounted rate.