Business Books: Books about Collaboration

Books about Collaborating

The need for books about collaboration is illustrated on a daily basis when we witness the ongoing failure among elected government officials to routinely collaborate with politicians who disagree with them. Although it is less publicly evident within both large and small businesses, a similar tendency to devalue the importance of collaborating with others can be seen regularly. While government disagreements might not be directly causing a similar climate of hostility in the private sector, it has been widely observed that the political process in the United States has caused more divisiveness throughout the country. It certainly seems possible that the lack of collaboration in one area has compounded the problem in other sectors. Regardless of any cause-and-effect relationship, the attempt to improve collaborating should be considered as a step in the right direction. Here are some books that should prove to be helpful in this challenging learning experience.

Collaborating to Achieve Goals

Source: Presenter Media

What Is Collaboration?

From a business perspective, collaboration is usually thought of as referring to the process of working together to achieve goals. As one recent example, there was complex government and political collaboration involved in the bank bailoutsseveral years ago. This particular situation also illustrates an ongoing difficulty whenever collaborating is involved:

Agreeing on the goals that everyone is working together to accomplish.

When the banking industry was bailed out by taxpayer funding, the goals were not spelled out specifically. As a result, there is now widespread disagreement as to whether the collaborative bank bailout effort was successful or not. As with other government or business activity, learning from mistakes should not be overlooked.

Right and Wrong Ways to Collaborate

Collaboration: How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Create Unity, and Reap Big Results

This book has been referred to as "the definitive book on collaboration". Morten Hansen rightfully describes that there are critical differences between "good and bad collaborating". Based on research, case studies and interviews.

Amazon Price: $15.00
List Price: $32.00