by Randy Pennington, Huffington Post (excerpted)
The Homebrew Computer Club was a group of hobbyists and electronic enthusiasts that met from 1976 to 1985. Its bi-weekly meetings included many of the early computer industry pioneers, and Steve Wozniak even used the forum to give away the schematics of the Apple I computer. Rogers and Larson suggested that this access to networks of smart people who share your interests and are willing to help you succeed was crucial in Silicon Valley’s success.
Fast Forward to Today
Cross-functional project teams, user groups, and beta testing your organization uses today are a start. They, also, don’t create the same connection as those meet-in-someone’s garage networks of the 1980’s Silicon Valley.
Those informal groups still exist, however. Smart people will always find ways to make their lives easier.
Internally, they appear as clandestine stairwell meetings or online conversations that don’t include you.
Externally, your customers use on-line forums to figure out how to make your product better suit their needs and complain about your lack of support. They may even reach out to one or two trusted people within your organization for work arounds and hacks.
Legitimizing and accelerating those networks is crucial for creating new opportunities and avoiding disruption.[…]
…you can work right now to accelerate collaboration:
1. Create a shared, secure digital ecosystem that drives innovation and efficiency.
2. Capture the big and small picture.
To accelerate collaboration, you must create opportunities to simultaneously see the world on a global and granular level. Brian Solis wrote about it this way: “Through a telescope, we bring the world closer. Through a microscope, we see what was previously invisible to the naked eye.”
3. Recreate the culture of collaboration.
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