This is the collaborative research page for developing a general theory of collaboration (GTC).
Please use the above discussion page tab for questions, proposals and criticisms. On the discussion page there is also a possition statment by the initiator of this LDI, Mark Elliott.
An LDI "Let's Do It" is a collaborative project management concept developed at Open Project Development.
Objectives
- To develop a general theory of collaboration - core theoretical principles which can be found to apply in most, if not all collaborative situations.
Hypothesis
A set of observable (first class) dynamics and components exist which are common to all collaborative scenarios.
Additional (second class) dynamics and components exist and arise as collaborative scenarios branch and diversify in their applications, contexts and complexity.
These additional, second class dynamics exist parallel to and/or nested within the first class set of dynamics.
First and second class dynamics and components may be different for collaborative scenarios enacted by non-human participants, i.e. computational agents etc.
Method
- Identify core dynamics.
- Expand out from core dynamics, identifying additional dynamics for varied contexts and applications.
- (In parallel) catalogue and link to examples of collaboration which illustrate the proposed dynamics.
To do
- As the initiator of this LDI, develop my (Mark Elliott's) position statement on the discussion page
- Keep it simple - everyone collaborates, so everyone is a practitioner with relevant insight.
- Disclaimer - I am not a sociologist...
- Develop a timeline for this LDI
- Articles to start: Collaborative dynamics, Trust, Knowledge sharing, Collaborative media, Collaborative contexts
- What is the generalised name of a collaboration's medium? e.g., in this case, it is a wiki page. (start collaborative media article)
Proposed theoretical components
Below is a list of proposed theoretical components to a GTC. This initial list is not meant to be exaustive and athoriative, rather it should serve a starting point for further development and discussion. Please contribute on this page, or on the pages which the titles link to. Once this listing and their individual pages become more stable, a summary page should be created.
If you are not sure about your contribution, or simply wish to discuss and or give some feedback or an opinion, on some particlular or general aspect, you can do so on this page's discusion page, or on the discussion pages associated with the indivitual components below.
First class collaborative dynamics and components
These dynamics and componets should be apparent in all human collaborative situations.
- Collaborative participant – a person engaged in a collaborative process who makes a creative contribution to the collaborative output.
- Collaborative domain – the core components and dynamics characterising a collaborative process including the specific collaborative participants, medium, output, emergent shared understandings, levels of trust and incentive. (Make a comprehensive list.)
- Collaborative process – the series of actions whereby participants engage one another within a collaborative domain (map this process).
- Cultural negotiation – the negotiation of cultural traits during a collaborative process specific to one or more cultures or subcultures (such as the English language, or netiquette). This negotiation is linked to the specific characteristics of the Collaborative media and the participants.
- Collaborative output – this may be tangible, objective and finite (such as winning a war or writing and publishing research paper), or intangible, subjective and ongoing (such as cultivating and maintaining a successful relationship), or a combination and/or gradation of these qualities (such as the total activities of Meta Collab).
- Emergent shared understandings – the conceptual space (which incorporates a great many forms of awareness, such as kinaesthetic knowledge in the case of dancing), characterised by shared understandings unique to the collaborative domain and the participants which emerge throughout the process of knowledge sharing (and experiential sharing in Second class contexts), collaborative contribution and cultural negotiation (make comprehensive list) (explore possible links with intersubjectivity).
- Collaborative contribution – a creative contribution made by a collaborative participant which leads to the emergence of shared understandings and contributes explicitly or implicitly to the collaborative outcome.
- Knowledge sharing – the exchange of information regarding the Collaborative domain and/or throughout the collaborative process which includes many different forms of knowledge exchange (such as the second class dynamic, experiential sharing) and contributes to the collaboration’s successful outcome. Many types and instances of knowledge sharing may appear unnecessary in a collaborative context, but may become more important at a later date, or may be important in a peripheral manner, for instance assisting in cultural and/or social negotiation etc.
- Collaborative incentive – an explicit or implicit, cost benefit oriented motivation for collaborating. Linked to trust (explore how), this may be a shared objective (like making a profit) or an individualistic motive (like furthering one’s career by working with someone who has a valuable social standing).
- Trust – a tacit, experiential judgment tied to a mix of explicit or implicit reputation histories, agreements, alignments, shared objectives or incentives (make a comprehensive list) which help to trigger a tipping-point like threshold required for a participant to contribute to a collaborative process. (For instance someone’s social reputation or publication and research histories in academic and scientific collaboration, the GPL FDL licence in wiki collaboration, past behaviour in close relationships, cultural standing in artistic collaborations etc.) (find trust reference)
- Collaborative media – the medium in which a collaboration takes place (For instance a word document or wiki in the case of coauthoring, vocalisations, body language, auditory and visual perceptions in day-to-day collaborations, or a mix of many media as in the case of the production of a play.)
Second class collaborative dynamics and components
These dynamics and components may appear in some but not all collaborative situations.
These dynamics are not to be seen as less worthy or secondary to first class dynamics in any way other than that they are not evident in all collaborative situations. (In fact they may predate many first class dynamics in terms of collaboration’s biological evolution.)
- Social negotiation as an extension to or nested dynamic of cultural negotiation (for example in face-to-face contexts or on wiki discussion pages). Linked to the characteristics of the Collaborative media.
- Experiential sharing – such as in the case of dance and other physical, experiential and/or kinaesthetic forms of collaboration. A nested subset of knowledge sharing.
Additional articles and aspects to explore
- Authorship, Coauthor, Collaborative writing - need to develop the generalised versions of these concepts, i.e. how are these components applied in any and every collaboration.
- Open-minded
- Cooperation
- Collaboration theory: Contextual_collaboration
- references etc here: Dialectical collaboration, Dialogic collaboration, Hierarchical collaboration
Relevant MetaCollab Categories
External resources
- The Ideal Collaborative Team
- A Dynamic Theory of Collaboration: A Structural Approach to Facilitating Intergovernmental Use of Information Technology "This paper explores the dynamics of trust, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in the context of a multigovernmental, interorganizational project to design and implement a new information system..."
- The Evolution of SharedPlans (1998), Barbara J. Grosz, Sarit Kraus
GTC LDI Members
Please add your name to this list if you have contributed in any way to this collaboration (implicitly, explicitly, through discussion or editing) if you wish to receive credit for your contributions (in Mark Elliott’s PhD).
- Mark Elliott 22:31, 20 November 2006 (UTC)