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Authors Paul Adler and Charles Heckscher hit the nail on the head in the latest copy of ask (Academy Sharing Knowledge, NASA’s excellent project management publication). They focus on that favorite word of innovators everywhere: collaboration.

We have reached two conclusions. First, this kind of work requires a strong sense of community that allows contributors to trust each other… Second, the kind of community needed today is very different from the traditional community based on loyalty; it takes a new form we call “collaborative.”

-To which I say, Bingo! Voila! Eureka! By Jove! (feel free to add your own expression here).

Not that the collaborative form is all that new, but in the new world of work, an organization’s (or a project team’s) sense of community can, and probably will, be a driving force in allowing groups of all types and sizes to not just keep up, but to stay ahead of the pack. And, to add even more urgency, the extent that organizations can adopt processes that encourage community will go a long way toward determining their longevity.

How can a sense of community improve work processes? One word: Trust. Successful businesses, the authors found, “restructure” community into a new (collaborative) form, where trust is established more quickly. The new form is distinguished by several characteristics:

By its organization, which supports horizontal interdependence rather than relying on top-down control or autonomous self-interest guided by financial incentives

By its values, which emphasize interdependent contribution to a collective purpose rather than loyalty or reliability

By the social character of its members, which is tolerant of ambiguity and conflict rather than comfortable with fixed roles and status

Thoughts on the above list

Financial incentives have less influence. More and more research indicates that financial incentives to perform are less important that once thought. Actually, more use of cognitive abilities may produce a greater sense of satisfaction in today’s workers. People want to know they are of more worth than as just a cog in a machine.

Interdependence, not loyalty, is the defining characteristic. Nothing wrong with loyalty, but it is by definition limiting and inflexible. Flexibility is a defining factor in successful collaborations.

Tolerance of ambiguity and conflict are a natural outcome of socializing work, and to be expected when different backgrounds, viewpoints, and influences come together to accomplish a task. Rather than being a hindrance, these will provide new insights that can help.

The tools for building this sense of community among groups and organizations are just now coming into the mainstream: blogging, wikis, social networking, just to name a few. And, as they become more widespread, they will likely evolve and spin off into even more useful tools.

But the time to get started is now! As Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) put it, “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

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