Institutions vs. Collaboration

Written By Allison Pollard

Photo by Suvodeb Banerjee

Clay Shirky gave a TED talk back in 2005 that reminded me of some of the themes from my Eliminating Barriers: No More Us vs. Them presentation at the AgileDotNet Dallas conference--organizations that are structured for efficiency rather than effectiveness.  In my presentation, I noted that the hierarchy of an organization could become so rigid that the organization can no longer adapt to a changing market.  The video of Clay's talk is below:

Organizations are the result of institution-creation, but can they change to allow collaboration?  I think so.  Every day I see organizations try to break down the barriers within to allow increased information sharing between employees across departments and teams.  A popular way to encourage collaboration beyond the organization's walls is through hackathons or exploration days.    

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard is a coach, consultant, and trainer who brings the power of relationship systems intelligence to go beyond tasks, roles, and frameworks to create energy for change. She engages with people and teams in a down-to-earth way to build trust and listen for signals to help them learn more and improve. Allison focuses on creating alignment and connection for people to solve business problems together. Her experience includes working with teams and leaders in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries to help improve their project/product delivery and culture. Allison currently volunteers as program director for Women in Agile’s mentorship program. Her agile community focus is championing new voices and amplifying women as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of leaders. Allison earned her bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a foodie, and proud glasses wearer. Allison is a prolific speaker at professional groups and international conferences, including Scrum Gatherings and the Agile Alliance Agile20xx conferences. Allison is co-owner of Helping Improve LLC.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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