PREFACE

I was doing a guest lecture for an MBA class a few years ago when a student asked what I thought was the most important building block to a company’s success. My initial answer was “People—finding great people.” The student’s facial reaction was probably a lot like mine when I was in business school and some gray-haired CEO said something just like that. People—what?!

I could tell by her expression that she thought it was an insincere answer (which it was not). She also asked what I thought was our company’s competitive advantage, to which I responded, “The people, process, and technology to create collaborative solutions.” All the students’ facial expressions were pretty similar: Collaboration—what?! They brushed it off as a similarly insincere answer (which, again, it wasn’t).