Smart Collaboration

Looking Sideways at Collaboration205

The parallels might not be exact, but the dynamics of the col-

laborative process at Dana-Farber are very similar to those in

today’s professional service firms. Collaboration starts slowly. It is

intensely human, no matter how hard we try to corral it into sys-

tems and processes. It goes down blind alleys far more often than

we like to admit. It is initially less productive and more expensive

than its freewheeling, freestanding, single-silo counterpart.

But when it works, it works like nothing else. What got you here

won’t get you there. Collaboration gets you there.

The voice of the client

Throughout this book, I’ve made references to the client. What do

clients of professional service firms need as they set ...