One of Those Words
He who first shortened the labor of copyists by device of movable types was disbanding hired armies, and cashiering most kings and senates, and creating a whole new democratic world: he had invented the art of printing.
(Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, 1833)
Have you ever encountered one of those words? One of those words that suddenly appears to be everywhere? Sometimes it’s a word that you just learned and now you notice it all around you. Years ago it was “infrastructure” – it was all over the place, in newspapers, magazines, on TV. Sometimes its an old word that for some reason gains new popularity, perhaps with a slightly diffferent meaning. For me, right now, the word is “collaborative.”
As the Executive Director of a program that’s currently sponsoring Systems Improvement through Service Collaboratives (SISC) – an initiative that aims to improve access to and coordination of mental health and addictions services for children, youth and families I have many reasons to ponder the meaning and the use of the word “collaborative”. The Internet, in part, is the culprit. We talk of collaboration more because we have commonplace yet miraculous tools that support collaboration. But like any tool you have to know how to use it and for what purposes if you to really want to build something.
And when I looked for ways to understand this new world I kept bumping into Don Tapscott. Read his take on ‘the age of collaboration’ here: http://www.economist.com/node/17509361
But what do you think? Has collaboration become too much of a buzz word? What collaborations are you currently involved in? Do you share Tapscott’s optimism?
Rob Moore