Collaboration and the Nature of Human Interactions
Overview
In his bestseller, Sapiens, author and historian Yuval Noah Harari recites the story of the cognitive revolution which happened approximately 70,000 years ago.

Africa, the birthplace of humanity.
Around 70,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens living in the African Savannah underwent a Cognitive Revolution.
This change allowed them to cooperate in very large numbers, changing the history of the world.
During the Cognitive Revolution, humans acquired the ability to share more information about their relationships, the world, and imagined orders that did not exist, like nations, corporations, and limited liability companies. Particularly interesting is that last one.
Imagined orders allowed people who were essentially strangers to collaborate in large numbers.
According to one theory, Homo Sapiens evolved language not just to understand the world around them.
Social animals like ants and bees have the ability to inform other individuals within their groups of where food can be found or when threats are imminent. On the other hand, humans needed to know who to trust and avoid, who was a threat, and who was a friend if they wanted to survive and reproduce. Language was a powerful vehicle for gossip.
What to Expect
This long introduction has, I hope, given the reader some idea of how complex human interactions are and how they shape our social behaviour.
Professional environments are no different than any social group, with complex hierarchies, imagined orders, and dynamic relationships.
This series of articles will focus on important topics that can make or break professional teamwork and the team’s ability to deliver.
Although the context is set in the software industry, some topics like efficient collaboration, change management, and decision-making can be extrapolated to other domains.
FAQ
Organisational Culture
What is…
- Organisational Culture
- Social Groups
- Complex Hierarchies
- Edgar Schein’s Model of Organisational Culture
- Cultural Transformation
- The Purpose of Organizational Culture
- Missing in an Engineer’s Education
How do…
- Organzational Cultures Emerge
- Cognitive Biases Affect Organisational Culture
- Cultural Transformations Happen
Case Studies
How to…
When is…
Why is…
- Cultural Change / Transformation Difficult
- Change Resistance Observed on the Individual Level
- Cybernetics inadequate to describe human groups
- Social science critical to great teamwork
Where can I find…
Operational Excellence
Process Design and Improvement
What is…
- SIPOC Process Models
- Value-Adding Effort
- Non Value-Adding Effort or Waste
- Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
- Process Effectiveness
- Process Efficiency
- Process Management
- DMAIC
How do/does…
Soft Skills
What is/are…
- Time Management
- Time Management Techniques
- The Cost of Time Lost
- Six Thinking Hats
- Uncertainty, Randomness, and Risk
How does…
Why is/are…
How to…
- Be prepared for professional collaboration
- Differentiate between data, information, and knowledge