NF

I wanted to read this book because I frequently saw it cited in contemporary business and management books. It talks at length about how to foster creative collaboration through the use of technology. It presaged a vision of a workplace with abundant computerized interactions. More impressively, it did so without foreseeing most of the impact of the Internet.

Of course, the technologies described in this book are dated. Indeed, most of them are now in the domain of historians of technology. In the hindsight of history, it’s mostly right in that it references the right things – technologies that have since become a part of our daily lives. Still, reading this book for the technologies is probably a losing game because it’s outdated.

However, observing the powerful historical and interpersonal principles at work through technology makes a perusal of this book still relevant and worthwhile. Indeed, Schrage’s work is half-technology, but also half-behavior. Through example after example, he teaches us how to nurture and elicit certain behaviors of collaboration through the ways we communicate. That vision is philosophically lasting (and grounded in prior work done by Marshall McLuhan).

This work has relevance for those who, like me, have an interest in the history of technology. It also has value for business leaders who want to ignite more collaboration in their workplace. Everything from architecture to technologies is discussed. I was impressed with how much of Schrage’s vision has come reality thirty years later! Creative collaboration is an engine that drives much of the world economy, and this book, as no other does, points us in how to harness its profound forces for lasting results. ( )

Like organic growth, teams don’t just happen, especially in younger companies where everyone is doing everyone else’s job. No More Teams covers what teams are, how they should work, and how companies can use them in execution.

http://smartlemming.com/2009/05/flatten-your-learning-curve-read-the-classic-bus... ( )