Smart Collaboration

Heidi K. Gardner

Many professional service firms today face a serious dilemma. Clients are demanding more sophisticated service for complex problems that can only be delivered by interdisciplinary teams of experts. No one consultant or lawyer--or even one functional group--can guide a client through today's challenges, which often span technological, regulatory, economic, and environmental issues on an increasingly global scale. The problem is, most firms have narrowly defined practice areas and partners with specialized expertise. These siloed experts are often "stars" who have built their reputations and client rosters independently, not by working with peers. What's more, most firms have grown so large and so fast that their members can't even know--let alone trust--their colleagues around the world. In Smart Collaboration, Heidi Gardner shows that a much more profitable--albeit difficult--path is...