There seem to be a run of events about collaboration, working together, or other ways of putting this. I'm talking at one tomorrow at Northern Stage which you can also see at various places and, I think, on-line. (Certainly there'll be a twitter stream to follow.) You can read about it here.
I don't have time right now to explore the theme in detail, I'll maybe do a wrap up of thoughts from this and last week's LARC event at the RSA. But there is a strand that says collaboration is not always the right thing, and that some things described as collaboration are more like cooperation. The above video may shed some light.
For those whose minds work differently, the video below may also help.
All very lovely but I think that it's the third C-word that bothers people - Collusion.
ReplyDeleteBack-channeled agreements in an ostensibly open discussion is what really annoys people I think.
I think the key element of collaboration for me which means the genuine ones avoid this or a fourth C of 'cartel-ism' is openness. Collaboration is at its best when it opens itself and its practices up for reflection - by participants but also by others. That's especially my experience in co-creating art, as in the Balkan Exchange poetry translation collaboration I was involved in.
ReplyDeleteHey, you can have your cake and count it.
ReplyDeleteThanks to your post have spent too much time this morning in Venn diagram land sorting people into cookie monsters and vampires.
Would you care to share that diagram Christian?
ReplyDelete"knowledge workers". Makes me feel warm all over.
ReplyDeleteAnd something from John Berger (posted on my blog – excuse the 'get traffic there' part of this comment): http://skellis.posterous.com/berger-on-collaboration
ReplyDelete