An Evolving Definition of Collaboration and Some Implications for the World of Work

People have come to the end of the cycle where competition & hierarchy can serve as a value base for survival. It is necessary to view the environment as one that requires qualitatively new solutions based upon an alternative value system--'collaboration'. Collaboration is a relational system in which: (1) individuals in a group share mutual aspirations & a common conceptual framework, (2) the interactions among individuals are characterized by "justice as fairness," & (3) these aspirations & conceptualizations are characterized by each individual's consciousness of his or her motives toward the other, by caring or concern for the other, & by commitment to work with the other over time, provided that this commitment is a matter of choice. Consciousness & choice are defined in terms of the individual's consciousness of the inadequacy of the old value system, & choice as an awareness of alternatives & the conviction that a choice is possible. A group is defined as a relational system, & caring & commitment become the dynamic counterweights to the exploitative forces within that relational system. In such a system, individual members, aware of other competing value systems, have actively chosen to make a commitment to justice in human relationships. Viewed dialectically, A. Angyal's concept of homonomy & autonomy (Foundation for a Science of Personality, Cambridge Mass: Harvard U Press, 1958) can be useful in conceptualizing collaboration. A new form of organization & management is discussed for work settings, congruent with the collaborative value system in "turbulent environments" & some of the skills required to make it viable: (ie, participative decision making & participative membership in the conscious creation of collaborative support systems). Implementation of the collaborative value system calls for planned change. The collaborative organization is an evolving model which can be developed, evaluated, & refined through action/research. Modified AA.