Collaborative intelligence: what exactly is it?

An intelligence that goes beyond collective intelligence.

The Spanish proverb says that four eyes see more than two and that unity is strengthThis is obvious: when several people decide to collaborate towards a goal, the greater the chances of success, because two or more brains will think much better than one alone. After this statement, we can roughly intuit what is the collaborative intelligence.

Collaborative intelligence: defining the concept

The word intelligence comes from the Latin intelligentiawhose origin is inteligere which in turn is formed by intus which means "between" and legere which means "to choose". Thus we can say that intelligence is the capacity to know how to choose, and that the better the option chosen from among all possible options, the more intelligent the individual is considered to be..

The term collaboration also has its origins in Latin and is formed by con- (together), laborare (to work) and -tion (action and effect). So we can define collaboration as the action and effect of working together with other person/s to try to achieve a common goal..

If we put the two definitions together, we can say that the term collaborative intelligence means choosing the best option to achieve a given goal by working together. This definition is an approximation based on the etymology of its words, but it serves as a basis to understand a more complex description.

Collaborative intelligence in the business environment

To date, there is no unanimity there is no unanimity when it comes to defining exactly what collaborative intelligence is, so there are many different definitions.There are multiple definitions, among which we highlight the one given by the ICXCI (Innovation Center for Collaborative Intelligence):

"Collaborative intelligence (CI) involves orderly deliberation, facilitated by social technologies, that enables a set of people to create better shared knowledge and make decisions, with greater possibilities of overcoming the challenges and difficulties posed by different human activities in an increasingly complex and changing environment."

In companies, today more than ever that we live in a global and digital world where information technologies are advancing by leaps and bounds, it is becoming necessary to enhance collaborative intelligence to achieve intelligent companiescapable of adapting to any change and need.

Thus, there are many organizations that have been committed to recruiting and retaining corporate talent for some years now, which is based on the assumption that we have companies full of talent and innovative ideas that find favorable ground in environments that favor collaboration, and that of course have the technological resources and financing to be able to carry out ambitious projects.

Cooperation between diverse people is the key to business success.

But that talent, individually, is not enough; one person alone is not always able to find the best solution or path to take. It is not productive, in this age of hyper-specialization, to rely on isolated talents.

However, if we implement mechanisms and tools for cooperation and collaboration among all these talents, so that they relate and interact with each other in such a way that they are able to face any challenge, they will obtain much more optimal and effective results than if they were to do it individually..

Tips for fostering collaborative intelligence

Since we have already explained what collaborative intelligence is from a theoretical level, all that remains is to address certain keys to fostering cooperation in the practical realm. Let's begin:

• If you don't cooperate, it's not in your company's interest.. Explain to the whole team the need for collaboration as a company policy and objective.
• Create both physical and virtual collaborative spaceswhere those involved in the project can work.
• In any job in which several people participate, due to the different points of view and individual talents, there are bound to be conflicts. It will be necessary to know how to manage them and to see them as something necessary for the team.
• The more cooperative a worker is, the more valuable he or she will be to the group.. These will be the main talents to retain, because they are the people who serve as a connection between the different departments of the company.
• Implementation of intelligent and 2.0 tools to generate conversation and reflection. tools that serve to generate conversation and reflection on the proposals made and that convert all the information into collective and useful knowledge.
• All knowledge must be shared. "No one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity" (Pierre Lévy). It is important that the different sections of the company do not act as isolated foci but as an organized whole.
• The leader must exercise collaborative leadership based on trust.

Some conclusions about collaborative intelligence

Collaborative intelligence leads to A much more creative and efficient way of working. 

Workers feel that they are part of the organization, therefore their motivation increases and a good working environment is created. Many minds connected with each other, with a common goal, can offer unthinkable results far beyond expectations. That is why it is worth betting on collaborative intelligence in our organization.