Collective Intelligence Development in Business

Patricia BOUVARD and Hervé SUZANNE, coaches and consultants, are both Associate Directors and Co-creators of Horizon Performance Conseil, a training company specialized in the development of Collective Intelligence within companies. At present, their works are mainly focused on topics of influence and authenticity, in particular through a deeper knowledge of the various types of personality and their needs.

• Introduction  ixChapter 1. Relevance and Foundations of Collective Intelligence 11.1. Adapting to a world in complete transformation 11.2. The pillars of a company in development, the foundations of Collective Intelligence 61.3. Conclusion 11Chapter 2. People: The Heart of the Collective Intelligence Development Process  132.1. Collective Intelligence: a largely untapped resource  142.2. Lack of Collective Intelligence: causes and consequences  162.2.1. The causes of Collective Unintelligence 162.2.2. The consequences of Collective Unintelligence 192.3. Five good reasons to raise the level of Collective Intelligence 242.3.1. Getting away from Collective Unintelligence  242.3.2. Making infrastructure more permeable  252.3.3. Less individualism, more collective work and less control  262.3.4. Increasing the intangible wealth of a company 322.3.5. To implement change  362.3.6. Conclusions about the reasons to increase the level of Collective Intelligence 382.4. Collective Intelligence: an obvious choice faced with a fundamental paradox  392.4.1. The paradox  392.4.2. Consequences of this paradox: the small range of personalities present in companies 402.4.3. Conclusion: the necessity of understanding diversity to move toward complementarity 43Chapter 3. Developing Collective Intelligence: Understanding People and Diversity 453.1. Diversity? A matter of interpretation! 463.1.1. Report of the mechanism of interpretations 473.1.2. The devastating effects of interpretation on Collective Intelligence – the necessity of practicing scientific reasoning 513.2. Understanding people through perception filters 543.2.1. The obvious part of perception filters: exogenous filters 553.2.2. The less obvious part of perception filters: endogenous filters  573.2.3. Filters in the service of Collective Intelligence  863.2.4. Why do some personalities seem difficult to you?  883.3. Diversity and stress: different survival behaviors  893.3.1. The origin of survival behaviors  903.3.2. How do survival behaviors manifest? 903.3.3. Main causes of survival behavior 913.3.4. Survival behaviors and adaptation 943.4. Conclusion on the elements of diversity  96Chapter 4. What is Leadership? A Note on Works about Leadership and a Tentative Definition of Leadership 994.1. A note on works about leadership  994.2. Tentative definition of leadership  1054.3. Three premises of leadership  1064.3.1. Leadership is relational 1064.3.2. Leadership is a-hierarchical 1114.3.3. Leadership is contextual 1234.4. Links between Collective Intelligence and Leadership 1264.4.1. What are the links?  1264.4.2. Possible deviations  1274.4.3. Conclusion on the links between Collective Intelligence and Leadership  1284.5. Leadership, to mediate between opposing sides 1314.6. Leadership: transcending organizational or cultural differences 1364.6.1. Leadership and organization: example of a matrix organization 1364.6.2. Leadership: overcoming cultural differences 1384.7. Conclusions about leadership  145Chapter 5. Postures and Roles of a Leader to Develop Collective Intelligence 1475.1. Introduction: learning to be a leader  1475.2. The postures of a leader 1495.2.1. Behaving like a learner 1495.2.2. Demonstrating responsibility  1555.2.3. Treating other people as equals 1605.3. The roles of a leader, in the service of Collective Intelligence 1635.3.1. Role of a leader in relation to the Vision 1635.3.2. Role of a leader in relation to the Structure  1655.3.3. Role of a leader in relation to individuals and their skills 1685.3.4. Main actions of a leader, manager or non-manager, over individuals and their skills  185Chapter 6. The Skills of a Leader in the Service of Collective Intelligence  1896.1. Being a leader: a sum of personal skills for self-control  1896.1.1. Ensuring maximum mobility of the filter slider 1896.1.2. Knowing yourself and controlling your impact 1926.1.3. Ensuring an emotional/rational balance  1986.1.4. Appearing both close and distant  2066.1.5. Developing a No. 10 Ego  2076.1.6. Being perceived as authentic: a must! 2116.1.7. Getting rid of authoritarianism 2186.2. Being a leader: the sum of relational skills to influence  2206.2.1. The criteria of influence 2216.2.2. The fundamentals of successful communication  2256.2.3. Practicing feedback: a relational technique  2366.2.4. Using communication techniques to make people accept responsibility 2406.2.5. Public speaking  2476.2.6. Practicing “real delegation” 2586.2.7. Being proactive  2616.2.8. Taking care to motivate people according to individual expectations 2626.2.9. Coaching when necessary  2646.2.10. Conducting difficult conversations  2776.3. Being a leader: creating sense  3066.3.1. The question of context and its impact  3076.3.2. What to observe when studying context? 308Conclusion 335Bibliography  339Index 343