[Review] Collaborate: The Art of We Page: 51
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Book Review
Collaborate: The Art of We - Dan Sanker
Jossey-Bass; 2012; 190 Pages; ISBN: 111811472
Collaborate: The Art of We
The phenomenon of collaboration is getting popular in organizations; however while it is
not a new buzzword; it is gaining more mileage because of the changes we see around us. In his
book Collaborate. The Art of We (2012), author Dan Sanker makes the case for social
Darwinism - the constant battle for survival - by stating that in the coming decades, the fittest
will be the ones who know how to collaborate. In today's global economy, time is of essence, as
is quality. The book is timely because in the light of the present economy, collaboration is not
just a best practice, but also an essential practice for performance.
Forty people collaboratively contributed to the forward of this book. The author created a
wiki and the foreword writing team got together to create a foreword that addresses the author's
qualifications for writing the book, the special contributions the book makes to the field, the
readers who will be interested in the book and why and last, but not least, the ultimate
significance of the book. This is a first of its kind and a concrete example of the power of
collaboration. This effort alone is enough to pique one's interest in the concept of collaboration
and the intent of the book. In the preface the author emphasizes that while collaboration is not a
new fangled idea, it is newly important and enabled because of cultural and economic changes
that are occurring related to technology and globalization. The author references his own
organization, CaseStack, as a successful experiment in collaboration.
Collaborate. the Art of We consists of ten chapters each detailing a piece of the puzzle that
is collaboration. Mindful that he is dealing with a fairly new trend, Dan Sanker reiterates that the
word "collaborate" appears in Google searches twice as much as it did a few years ago. As of the
writing of the book, a search on "collaborate" yielded about fifty-two million results. The author
emphasizes that the book is written for those with the drive and intellectual curiosity to embrace
a new way of thinking that requires a new approach to reach success. The book is linear in the
way it is written, beginning with a description of collaboration - what it is and what it isn't, why
collaboration is doable and critical to success, why it is important, how collaboration can be put
into practice despite obstacles and finally, the tactical requirements and tools to achieve
collaborative success.
The first chapter is aptly titled 'What collaboration is and isn't'. The author defines
collaboration as "the synergistic relationship formed when two or more entities working together
produce something much greater than the sum of their individual abilities and contributions" (pg.
3). The author proceeds to explain resource sharing, networking, coordination and cooperation.
He explains how these concepts are part of collaboration, but not collaboration in and of
themselves. He concludes the first chapter by sharing his company CaseStack's collaboration
experience as a case study.Learning and Performance Quarterly, 1(1), 2012
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Joshua-Gojer, Ashwini Esther. [Review] Collaborate: The Art of We, review, 2012; [Denton, Texas]. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc122185/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Information.