CollaborativEye

Sam Lawrence from Jive Software presented the keynote address at the recent Putting Collaboration to Work conference, held in Portland, Oregon on June 8th, 2007. (See the video). He gave an entertaining overview of how we've gotten to the "everything is 2.0" world. But what is at the core of 2.0? He drew on a painful event in our history, the attacks of 9/11, to make his point. Before 9/11, the World Trade Center Towers were symbolic of economic vitality and strength. They were an institution. After the attacks, the focus was on the people who were in the towers. Sure, news pundits talked about how this was a symbolic attack, but in general, the focus was on the people. I happened to be in mid-town Manhattan the morning of the attacks, and was stuck there until the following Saturday. I spent a lot of time walking the city, looking into people's eyes. I saw thousands of postings with pictures and names of loved ones. I attended prayer meetings where people connected, and prayed for missing loved ones. Nobody prayed for an institution. Nobody was looking for an institution. They were all thinking about people. 

So what is at the core of "Collaboration 2.0", "Enterprise 2.0", and "put-your-own-word-here 2.0"? It is about people. Connecting people, creating networks, co-creating products, services, and information with people from across the organization, city, country, and globe.  My first CEO loved to say "Our company's  most valuable asset goes home every night."  He was right, although we didn't like to think of ourselves as assets. Collaboration 2.0 is all about recognizing the value in people in and around an organization, because they really are more valuable than anything else the organization may lay claim to.

Bryan Jobes, Senior Manager of Conifiguation Design and Analysis at Boeing, presented at the Putting Collaboration to Work conference held in Portland, OR on June 8th, 2007. His presentation highlighted important collaborative elements in the business processes that went into the design of the new 787 airplane. One important collaboration concept Bryan highlighted was three interlocking roadmaps:

1) Market roadmap : internal & external influences and drivers that define opportunities. Answers the question of WHY?

2) Product roadmap: product evolution plans with defined specific key attributes. Answers the question of WHAT?

3) Technology roadmap: core technology required. Answers the question of HOW?

"Interlocking" the roadmaps means that the market roadmap flows down through the product and technology roadmaps, ensuring that product and technology plans are driven by real market demands. On the other hand, the technology roadmap can flow up and push capabilities, potentially altering market and product roadmaps. This "collaborative dialectic" is critical for successful products.

Interlocking roadmaps provide a mechanism for marketing, product development, and technology development to collaborate effectively. This provides an excellent example of true collaboration which is at the core of an important business process.