Collaborative Intelligence

Chapter 2Relational Intelligence

The Human Aspect of Collaboration

After working for the same entertainment company for 17 years, Fernanda was crying tears of joy for the first time.

The reason she was so happy? A huge in‐person event celebrating a global brand relaunch had been canceled. The 17‐year‐veteran in Brazil had worked hard on the roll‐out with her whole team. The entire global organization the team worked for had as well.

So why did the derailment of this massive effort lead to her feeling like she belonged and was connected to a team more than ever?

In the past, they'd done these types of large‐scale roll‐outs in person. At enormous expense, they'd fly many people in from around the world with the idea that they'd be more productive and connect better when face to face. It seemed like a logical assumption, but it left out a large cohort of people. Those who didn't get flown in still attended, but only over a conference call and from a range of different time zones. Because of the size of the company, privileging in‐person meetings meant excluding some team members.

For over a decade, Fernanda had seen this first‐hand: time differences meant that it was often late at night in Singapore when she and her team joined these calls, and her typically vocal team tended to become mere observers of the “interactions.”

Then the COVID‐19 pandemic changed how teams worked together. ...