Hi Harold,

I am puzzled by the premise of this post as well as other posts you've offered on the distinction between cooperation and collaboration. I don't see how you can have collaboration without cooperation and, further, I don't see how you can have cooperation without coordination.

Coordination implies the "ability" to do things together, such as share knowledge. For example, bureaucracy historically made coordination scalable. However, coordination is not based in intent. Cooperation implies a "willingness" to do things together. People typically consent to cooperate. And collaboration, in its most distinct form, implies an "eagerness" (a motivation) to do things together.

When someone in a position of authority asks you why you aren't cooperating the question is very different than if they ask you why you aren't collaborating.

Perhaps I'm missing something in your thinking on this topic.

Larry