Collaborative organizations are organizations where heightened interconnectivity and interdependencies between members make collaboration a default attractor within the system, thus reducing the need for hierarchical structures. Much of our traditional management apparatus is designed to manage organizations with a low level of connectivity where we are trying to coordinate independent members around zero-sum games. Traditionally this is achieved by building up a centralized hierarchy where conflict over rival goods can be easily resolved through a clear chain of command. However, as the connectivity and interdependency within an organization increase, this traditional approach of trying to coordinate relatively independent components in a top-down fashion becomes no longer necessary. Instead, it is now possible to harness this interdependency between the members towards achieving the desired global outcomes. This type of organization that builds connectivity and interdependency into the structure of the organization in order to achieve greater peer-to-peer collaboration we would call a collaborative organization.
