I've seen the future, and it's all about collaboration

I was alerted to this white paper sponsored by Cisco Systems and entitled "Collaboration: Transforming the way business works." by one of my clients at GSK (GlaxoSmithKline).

As the first line of the report summary states: "The future belongs to those who collaborate." [Emphasis mine.]

Indeed, to forge ahead and excel in today’s (or tomorrow’s, for that matter) business environment, no matter what the specific nature of that environment, “organisations will need to collaborate with thousands of specialised players, from customers and partners to competitors, regional distributors and university researchers.”

No matter what an organization’s past was all about, the future will require flexibility, agility and the drive to and ability to collaborate across all boundaries and functions.

Some of the report’s key findings, none of which are completely new to me or to those of you who follow this blog, but all are significant in terms of collaborative innovation and collaboration in general:

• Companies are facing a new imperative to form collaborative relationships.

• Successful collaboration requires a cultural shift which is already well under way.

• Companies face challenges in measuring and monitoring the benefits of collaboration.

• Despite the promise of technology, there is still dissatisfaction with online collaboration tools.

I will be addressing each of these points in future posts. (And to access the full white paper, click here.)