By pooling their know-how and resources across internal boundaries,
organizations can solve problems more creatively, increase their
productivity, and reap higher profits. But collaboration is not easy,
given how time-pressed managers are, how reluctant they are to cede
control over projects and relationships, and how tough it is for them to
stop working in silos when they’ve been doing it for ages. About 10
years ago, leaders at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute realized that the
growing complexity of the problems its experts were charged with
solving meant their fiefdoms couldn’t last forever. In developing a case
study about Dana-Farber, Gardner saw firsthand how difficult it was for
the organization to move away from a star-based system to one that got
researchers working together across specialties and facilities. She
demonstrates that its story has clear parallels with business and
outlines how executives can pull the levers of change in a wide range of
companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]