Cynthina Heinsohn, my business partner, and I have known each other for more than 20 years as both business associates and close personal friends.  We’ve worked together in two companies and on a variety of projects -- and we work well together too because our strengths compliment each other.

Cynthina and I teamed up together in Intellicore Design Consulting because we wanted to work together and are both passionate about collaboration.  It’s what’s made our partnership strong over the years.

For all of that, though, we still sometimes stumble in our communications and drive each other bonzo.  It’s funny too, because for a small business, we have collaboration tools up the wazoo…because, hey, one of our raison d'être.

One of the things we’ve learned through long experience is whatever challenges you face collaborating in physical promixity to one another will be exasperated from long distance.  Additionally, you may find that what proved challenge-free up close and personal becomes a challenge from longer-distance.

Collaboration tools can help you successful hurdle the challenges.  Here’s the thing though.  The tools will only be as good as the folks welding them.  More importantly, though, collaboration is a destination not an end point and requires continual cultivation.

I’ve spent more time in Community Network writing about partnership tools, though, and little time on the Art of Collaboration.

Starting today, though, I’m introducing a new topic stream to the blog in which I’ll periodically write about this very necessary but sometimes challenging art.  On an ongoing basis, we’ll look at the Art of Collaboration (and Communication too) from different perspectives.