See chapter four of our new book, Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work, for an extended discussion of the Accelerator.
Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center on
the Legal Profession and Program Chair of
the school’s Smarter Collaboration Master Class and Sector Leadership Master Class.
LEVERAGE YOUR STRENGTHS – ENGAGE AUTHENTICALLY – CAPITALIZE ON DIVERSITY
Smarter Collaboration
In their new book, Smarter Collaboration: a New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work, Dr. Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan Matviak offer groundbreaking solutions for solving tough problems in a complex world. They lay out a pragmatic action plan blending rich stories, new empirical research, and loads of practical advice to help companies thrive by collaborating more effectively. Smarter collaboration results in higher revenues and profits, faster innovation, deeper client/customer relationships, and better talent attraction and retention. This sequel to Gardner’s Washington Post bestseller, Smart Collaboration, expands beyond professional services to explore effective collaboration across industries like financial services, healthcare, biotech/pharma, consumer products, automotive, and technology.
Why Collaborate?
Our toughest and highest-value challenges are becoming more VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
These complex problems require people with different areas of expertise, experiences, and perspectives to integrate their knowledge to develop better solutions than anyone could produce on their own.
Whether you seek to drive greater innovation, boost financial performance by growing client or customer satisfaction, or help workers achieve their full potential, collaboration is essential.
A Strengths-Based Approach to Behavioral Change
Even when people buy into the concept of collaboration, they can find it hard to implement. Often, their behaviors are blockers to effective teamwork, and they rarely get the kind of actionable feedback that allows them to use their natural behaviors in a collaborative way.
It’s very difficult for a person to completely change their natural tendencies, and demands that they should “fit” into the prevailing culture can be stifling and lead to turnover. Instead, each person has the potential to enhance collaboration by drawing on their unique combination of strengths.
When you are aware of your natural tendencies, and those of teammates, you can make smarter choices about how to deploy your traits and improve collaboration.
This is where the Smart Collaboration Accelerator comes in:
Understand your behavioral tendencies and effectively deploy them to drive improved collaboration and its financial, strategic, and talent-related benefits.