Smarter Collaboration

9 Collaborating with Outside Partners

Let’s imagine an investment firm—call it Modern Asset Management—that has decided to take a major position in cryptocurrencies, based on its forecast of near-term market conditions. As it sets out to implement the plan, MAM contacts the outside partner who handles the firm’s accounting. Whoa, slow down, say the accountants. It’ll take us somewhere between six and nine months to update our software to handle that type of investment.

MAM realizes too late that it can’t go forward with the plan. Within a few months, it becomes clear that it has, indeed, missed a big move in the market. Ouch!

Now imagine those same partners in a different and happier scenario. A year earlier, senior teams from both parties ...