Book of the Week: From EQ to CQ (Collaborative Intelligence)

“An anthill can survive and feed itself in some of the most hostile environments. No single ant knows how it all works – nor does it need to. Individually ants are pretty dumb creatures, collectively they are very smart. Human beings, on the other hand, are individually very smart” but can be collectively smart as well.

Stephen James Joyce has published an interesting book about ‘stigmergic‘ and collaborative intelligence in the workplace, in which he introduces us to ‘CQ’, :”i.e. the ability to create, contribute to, and harness the power within networks of people and relationships”.

The publisher’s blurb writes that:

In the environment we live in today, never has our ability to ‘pull together’ been more important or more challenged. Developing ways of collaborating becomes a game everyone needs to play. Collaborative Intelligence (or CQ) exists in all groups and is defined as the harnessed intelligence and energy of networks of people. Highly successful organizations are those with the most collaboratively intelligent teams – this is no accident.

‘Teaching an Anthill to Fetch – Developing Collaborative Intelligence @ Work’ provides a practical outline of how to develop collaborative intelligence within groups, teams and organizations. At the end of each chapter there are ‘CQ Tools’ – exercises that enable the reader to explore the skills that develop ‘CQ’.

The parts that I started reading seem well reading and will appeal to people working in corporate settings. Chapter five for example, shows a very good grasp of the recent literature about collaboration, and inquires into the logic of bottom-up self-organization in the world of entreprise.

Here is a short excerpt about the evolution towards collaborative intelligence:

“Whether it is two cells sharing information or two nations negotiating international trade, connection is an essential factor in how things play out. Communication is impossible without ‘connection’ and in many respects it is the core issue of this book. Connection makes communication possible; communication makes collaboration possible which further enhances the state of connection. [Possibly use a simple diagram of this instead] Connection is a fundamental principle of all living systems, and this includes all those that make up human society (teams, organizations etc.).

In this chapter we explore how important ‘connection’ is in building resilient teams and at the same time further enhance our own collaborative intelligence (CQ). We will also look at the part ‘CQ’ will play in the increasingly flattened structures of modern companies and the resilient teams that are required to make the whole thing work.

Daniel Golemans’ work around the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) was a major step forward in the thinking of how we operate as human beings. EQ is especially important because of the extent to which it was accepted by the business community. Indeed the concept of EQ has already made its way through the ‘early-adopters’ and into the mainstream. It is time for another set of skills to be introduced – based upon the ability to collaborate.”

More Information:

E: [email protected]
Visit the book at www.AntHillSite.com
Visit Stephen at www.StephenJamesJoyce.com

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