Focus on Creative Collaboration: The Idea
From Jay Collier— 2/7/2008
Recently, Don Hallock and I were looking back over the past year of evolution on this Web site, and we found ourselves gravitating to a recurring theme: how we both experienced thriving creative collaborations at 'GBH — Don in the '50 and '60s and me in the '80s.
I'd recently been studying creative collaborations. After I finished reading Organizing Genius: the secrets of creative collaborations, it occurred to me that 'GBH shared many attributes with Warren Bennis' "great groups," which included Black Mountain College, Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Apple Computer, and the Walt Disney Studio animators.
Don and I thought it would be a fascinating exercise to ask you to share perspectives on how the spark of creativity has been experienced through collaborative partnerships at 'GBH.
To that end, I've created this new section on the Web site called Focus on Creative Collaboration, for which Don has contributed the first essay, Setting the Stage. I have also created a references page with links to documents in this Web site — including Dave Davis' memo on creativity, and Don's essay "Gifts — Some Thoughts on Gifts and Reminiscences" — as well as some recommended books on the topic.
Now, I'm looking to you. Would you be willing to contribute? If so, let me know!
Send your thoughts to alumni [at] wgbhalumni.org.