Collaborative intelligence: what exactly is it?
The Spanish proverb says that they see more four eyes than two and that Union make forceThis is obvious: when there are several people who decide to collaborate towards a goal, the chances of success will be higher, because two or more brains will think much better than one. After this statement, roughly, we can guess what is the collaborative intelligence .
Collaborative intelligence: defining the concept
The word intelligence It comes from the Latin intelligentia, term whose origin is intelligere which is formed in turn by intus which means "between" and legere which means "choose". So we can say that intelligence is the ability to know how to choose, and that the better the option chosen from among all possible, the more intelligent the individual is considered .
The term collaboration It also has its origin in Latin and is formed by with- (together), laborare (work and -tion (action and effect). So we can define collaboration as the action and effect of working together with another person / s to try to reach a common goal .
If we put both definitions together, we can say that the term collaborative intelligence it means choose the best option to achieve a certain goal working together . This definition is an approximation based on the etymology of his words, but that serves as a basis to understand a more complex description.
Collaborative intelligence in the field of companies
Today, there is no unanimity when it comes to defining exactly what collaborative intelligence is , so you can find multiple definitions, among them we highlight the one given by the ICXCI (Innovation Center for Collaborative Intelligence):
«Collaborative intelligence (IC) is an orderly deliberation, facilitated by social technologies, which allows a group of people to create a better shared knowledge and make decisions, with greater possibilities of overcoming the challenges and difficulties posed by the different human activities in a increasingly complex and changing environment. »In companies, today more than ever we live in a global and digital world where information technologies are advancing by leaps and bounds, begins to be necessary to promote collaborative intelligence to get smart companies , able to adapt to any change and need.
Thus, there are many organizations that for a few years have been betting on the recruitment and retention of corporate talent, with which we start from the base that we have companies full of talent and innovative ideas that find a favorable ground in the environments that they favor collaboration, and of course they have the technological resources and the financing to be able to carry out ambitious projects.
Cooperation among diverse people is the key to business success
But that talent, individually is not enough, a person alone is not able to always find the best solution or path to take. It is not productive, in this era of hyper-specialization, to have isolated talents.
However, if we implement cooperation and collaboration mechanisms and tools among all these talents, so that they can interact and interact with each other in such a way that they are able to face any challenge, much more optimal and effective results will be obtained than if they did it individually .
Tips to encourage collaborative intelligence
Since we have already explained what collaborative intelligence is from a theoretical perspective, the only thing that remains is to address certain keys to foster cooperation in the practical field. Let us begin:
- Who does not cooperate, does not interest the company . Explain to the whole team, the need for collaboration as a policy and objective of the company.
- Create collaborative spaces, both physical and virtual , where those involved in the project can work.
- In all work in which several people participate, due to the different points of view and individual talents, it is sure that there will be conflicts. It will be necessary to know how to manage them and that they are seen as something necessary by the team.
- The more cooperative a worker is, the more value he will have for the group . These will be the main talents to retain. because they are the people that serve as a connection between the different departments of the company.
- Implementation of smart tools and 2.0 that serve to generate conversation and reflection on the proposals made and that convert all information into collective and useful knowledge.
- All knowledge has to be shared . "No one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity" (Pierre Lévy). It is important that the different sections of the company do not act as isolated foci but as an organized group.
- The leader must exercise a collaborative leadership based on trust.
Some conclusions about collaborative intelligence
With collaborative intelligence you get a way to work much more creative and efficient .
Workers feel that they are part of the organization, therefore their motivation increases and a good working environment is created. Many minds connected with each other, with a common goal, can offer unthinkable results far beyond what was expected. For this reason, it is worthwhile to bet on collaborative intelligence in our organization.
