Getting Collaboration Right - Herminia Ibarra and Morten T. Hansen - The Conversation
by Morten T. Hansen and Herminia Ibarra | 8:38 AM May 16, 2011 This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Making Collaboration Work. Cisco recently announced that it is trimming its elaborate structure of boards and councils — its collaboration machine. Although we don’t know the precise reasons for the changes, it is clear that the setup was viewed by some commentators as unwieldy and insufficiently results-oriented. Cisco’s efforts underscore the key challenge of collaboration — how hard it is to get it right. Under-collaboration. Over-collaboration. As with BP at one point, perhaps Cisco over-collaborated and thus needs to pull back? Both traps are equally perilous: under-collaboration leads to underperformance relative to a company’s resources, and over-collaboration undermines speed and execution, also leading to poor results. So what’s the right way? Leaders play a crucial role in getting this right. The stakes are high: it will be crucial for leaders to get collaboration right.
Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A hack in progress in Lobby 7. Although the practice is unsanctioned by the university, and students have sometimes been arraigned on trespassing charges for hacking,[18][19][20] hacks have substantial significance to MIT's history and student culture. Student bloggers working for the MIT Admissions Office have often written about MIT hacks, including those occurring during Campus Preview Weekend (CPW), an event welcoming admitted prospective freshman students.[21] Alumni bloggers on the MIT Alumni Association website also report and document some of the more memorable hacks.[22] Since the mid-1970s, the student-written guide How To Get Around MIT (HowToGAMIT) has included a chapter on hacking, and discusses history, hacker groups, ethics, safety tips, and risks of the activity.[23] Cultural aspects[edit] Residents of MIT's Simmons Hall collaborated to make a smiley face on the building's facade, December 8, 2002. Famous hacks[edit]
Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide - McKinsey Quarterly - Strategy - Strategy in Practice
Although creativity is often considered a trait of the privileged few, any individual or team can become more creative—better able to generate the breakthroughs that stimulate growth and performance. In fact, our experience with hundreds of corporate teams, ranging from experienced C-level executives to entry-level customer service reps, suggests that companies can use relatively simple techniques to boost the creative output of employees at any level. The key is to focus on perception, which leading neuroscientists, such as Emory University’s Gregory Berns, find is intrinsically linked to creativity in the human brain. In this article, we’ll explore four practical ways for executives to apply this thinking to shake up ingrained perceptions and enhance creativity—both personally and with their direct reports and broader work teams. Immerse yourself Would-be innovators need to break free of preexisting views. Overcome orthodoxies What business are we in? Use analogies Create constraints
MIT World | Distributed Intelligence
Six Common Misperceptions about Teamwork - J. Richard Hackman - The Conversation
This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Making Collaboration Work. Teamwork and collaboration are critical to mission achievement in any organization that has to respond quickly to changing circumstances. My research in the U.S. intelligence community has not only affirmed that idea but also surfaced a number of mistaken beliefs about teamwork that can sidetrack productive collaboration. Here are six of them. Misperception #1: Harmony helps. Actually: Quite the opposite, research shows. Misperception #2: It’s good to mix it up. Actually: The longer members stay together as an intact group, the better they do. Misperception #3: Bigger is better. Actually: Excessive size is one of the most common–and also one of the worst–impediments to effective collaboration. Misperception #4: Face-to-face interaction is passé. Actually: Teams working remotely are at a considerable disadvantage. Misperception #5: It all depends on the leader. Misperception #6: Teamwork is magical. J.
Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at MIT
Social networking 'utopia' isn't coming
The number of Twitter users last month surpassed 300 million. Study shows "tribalism" is alive and well in the social network eraScientists estimate users can have 150 Twitter connections before being overwhelmediPhone photo sharing app, Path, limits your network to just 50 people Editor's note: Chris Taylor is San Francisco bureau chief of Mashable, a popular tech news blog and a CNN.com content partner. (CNN) -- As 2011 dawned, Facebook released a map that spoke to our era of social media in much the same way the first pictures of Earth from space spoke to the 1960s. The map showed the connections between the world's Facebook friends -- a number now approaching 700 million -- as beams of light. No one has done this, but just think what that map would look like if you were to add Twitter users, whose numbers last month surpassed 300 million. A grand total of 1 billion accounts, and who knows how many billions of connections? Not so fast, man. The answer, on average, was roughly 150.
MIT Media Lab: Reality Mining
Seizing Advantage: How Tacit Assumptions Rob Traditionists and Innovators
Collaboration and Social Business are powerful concept with huge potential but realizing this potential is far from business-as-usual. Both traditional business and social business evangelists must challenge their assumptions—and then doing something different. The rise of the social web now sets the context for business, cannot be ignored. Customers rely on it to make decisions and they have expectations of the companies with which they do business. It is safe to say that the results are mixed. One of the deep-seated assumptions that undermine collaboration initiatives is the belief that people are motivated to act in their self-interest, especially for material rewards. In contrast, advocates of social media often enthusiastically embrace the potential and operate under a tacit assumption that everyone is inherently social. Most traditional business executives do want the agility and engagement that collaboration promises.
Deb Roy - MIT Media Laboratory
Virtual Professors
How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML
Important Note: Facebook no longer supports FBML. Please refer to the articles on Facebook iFrame. Is your Facebook page dull and uninviting? Maybe you’ve seen those really attractive Facebook pages and wondered, “How’d they do that?” Given Facebook’s powerhouse status for marketers, isn’t it time you upgraded your Facebook page? How can you help your brand stand out from the competition and increase the relevancy of your Facebook page? The answer: Static FBML. What Is Static FBML? FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language, which is a subset of HTML. Static FBML is a Facebook application that allows Facebook page administrators to create custom tabs on their Facebook pages. Adding Static FBML to Your Facebook Page You can add Static FBML in four easy steps. #1: Make sure you are an administrator of the Facebook page so you have the ability to edit. #2: Go to the Static FBML application. #3: Click “Add to my Page.” Static FBML is now added to your page. Setting Up Static FBML as a Tab That’s it!
SIMILE Project
