Collaboration Traps and Benefits

Campbell, Margaret

Hansen, M. (2009). Collaboration: How leaders avoid the traps, create unity, and reap big results. [Internet-delivered summary: Summaries.Com]. Harvard Business Press: Boston. Retrieved from http://www.summaries.com/Platinum/Collaboration.pdf

Sometimes it is beneficial to step outside the realms of education and librarianship and take a peak into research being done in economics and business. Hansen's impressive biography as a Stanford graduate, a former professor at Harvard Business School, a current professor of management in the School of Information at UC Berkeley, and his ten years of specifically studying collaboration, influenced me to take a close look at his research and ideas.

In the summary, Hansen suggests that it may not always be profitable to collaborate, and in true economic fashion, he supplies an equation for determining collaboration profitability. Although much of the information and detailed instructions for creating collaborative processes may be stringent for some, it is a clear guideline that may be helpful, especially in situations where collaboration is not clearly understood.

There are many diagrams and flow chart explanations that may appeal to administrators or school system "time-keepers" that can be repurposed to make a solid business case for collaboration, when simple requests and pleas for collaborative time do not work.

The barriers to collaboration, the strategies, and the tools presented are extremely well-outlined, making this summary more like an essential collaboration "how-to" than like a research-based article.

Hansen concludes that disciplined collaboration is essential, and that the primary barriers to the practice of collaboration are personal shortcomings that must be overcome.