Since starting with my investigations into “Collaborability” I found it not easy at all to describe it in all its width and for all its implications. Using the blog format has enabled me to home in on specific aspects as a means to make progress, any progress. By now I can revert to several pieces of text that describe at least some relevant parts of the concept. While pondering on so many – sometimes seemingly non-related – subjects and thoughts for the last couple of months a high over model is emerging on their coherence (REMINDER: WORK IN PROGRESS):
In the center I have placed a simplistic economical model that in isolation is used for daily decisions at three levels: society, companies and individuals. These parties interact by exchanging money back and forth [BLACK arrows]. The actors will do what they do and hence often invoke externalities [RED arrows] to others without being penalized for the cost incurred by the others. At the same time they will use (basically for free) the ability to collaborate [GREEN arrows]. Simplistically said our government is expected to take care of creating and maintaining our ability to collaborate [BLUE solid arrow] while companies and groups will contribute as well [BLUE dotted arrow].
Two main area’s of investigation are: “Collaboration Mechanisms” and “Balancing Group vs Individual”. The first is needed to understand what collaborability is about and how it works, the second is needed to understand how the balance between the three before mentioned parties is arranged for.
Just to show how this model helps understanding issues we are faced with: this week I listened to a radio report on the lack of technically skilled personal in the Netherlands as opposed to Germany. In the Netherlands providing for trainee-ships is basically left to the individual companies. They will act in their own direct interest and will be very restrictive in providing for trainee-ships [Externalities: leading to a reduced capacity of collaborability and lost opportunities]. Based on a different attitude towards production [culture] and based on a infrastructure of schooling [infrastructure] and mandatory trainee-ship (Law) provided by all companies the situation is very different in Germany. The individual companies in Germany help build and maintain a trained workforce pool [collaborability!] to the benefit of all and by which they themselves are better equipped to compete today. Like incorporating externalities to others in our own choices understanding the mechanisms involved and as a consequence incorporating collaborability in our decision making will help to make more balanced choices for the good of us all.