Collaboration, Coming and Going

From an post by Geoffrey A, Moore, also the author of Crossing the Chasm:

5. Great innovators are usually egotistical mavericks. Not any more (although there is no shortage of egotistical mavericks that would have you think otherwise). In the current decade there is more competitive differentiation to be gained through collaboration than through busting out on your own. That's because our extended supply chains reward each company for focusing on its core and outsourcing the rest of the offer to someone else in the chain. But actually orchestrating these chains to perform effectively in real time requires enormous innovation. And that is a job for people who listen well, empathize deeply, and make the differentiated performance of the chain as a whole as important as their own local success. In addition, many innovative technology companies are harnessing the hearts, minds, innovative skills of thousands of people through the open source movement. Many great innovators with audacious ambitions have the qualities of Tom Sawyer, getting other people to help them paint the fence - often for free - because they want to be a part of something great.

First, this is an idea that I have talked about several times here, and here. At a lower level of the pyramid the techies talk about interoperability. This is important, certainly. But from the users, read customers, perspective, it is the ability to really communicate that makes the difference. How it is done is immaterial to them. Collaboration is key; not only is it the driver of new software offerings but it is their fundamental goal. Collaborate to enable collaboration.

NetSuite's NetFlex project may not be as idealistic as the open source movement, but it's a good start to real collaboration aimed at the heart of the enterprise.