Collaborating with the enemy

How to work with the people you don’t agree with or like or trust

by Adam Kahane

Publisher- Berrett Kohler

The book Collaborating with the enemy mainly deals with the different kinds of collaboration methods which can be practiced in our day to day life. It is a well-written book detailing different aspects of working in a team and coming to terms with people we cannot agree with. The book has been written in simple language which makes it easily understandable.

Focus of the Book

The author says that collaboration in the conventional way means collaborating with the members to work towards a goal. In the modern times, we have both traditional collaboration and stretch collaboration. The author clearly tell us about how to start collaborating. The perfect point to begin is by understanding when to collaborate. He states that traditional collaboration focuses only to reach close to the results. Adam says that it cannot be helpful in conflict situation. This method promotes only one right answer. It is all about one person dominating the entire group. He added that it is quite opinionated and can take place only in simple situation. If the situation is complicated, one cannot use conventional collaboration. Adam also states that in stretch collaboration situations can be controlled. In this system, they focus on equal contribution from all the people in the group and also on the value system, principles and perspectives. The different steps include how to collaborate, when to collaborate, how do we advance the work and how to make everyone participate. These can happen only through connecting, revealing, repairing each other which is the CRR principle of Adam. A major point to be remembered is rather than arguing we should engage and assert. If this happens harmoniously it will end any sort of suffocation in the group. It is important that we understand the power of love and coordination with one another. In stretch collaboration one formulates, agrees and executes the plan.

Approach

This book opens our brain to think about various aspects of collaborating with each other in our home to work space. It has used different case studies to explain how these methods can be useful. Adam has used simple language but it was not comprehensive in  certain areas which made the book little uninteresting. However, it is a book that can be read to know more about collaboration and its applications.

– Anjana PV

Anjana is a part of Class of 2019 in the Post Graduate Programme in PR & Corporate Communications at School of Communications & Reputation, Mumbai. She is a Bachelor of English Language and Literature from Prajyoti Niketan College, Kerala. Her interest for communication and leadership skills took her to the world of Public Relations. She is open to learning and keen to work hard to reach her goals.

Anjana completed her internship with Adfactors PR, Mumbai and was subsequently recruited by the firm at the end of her programme.

She can be reached at @AnjanaPV2 and as Anjana PV on LinkedIn