Overview: Most of us believe that good collaboration depends upon how cooperative our colleagues are. That’s a costly mistake, says Grayson James, international collaborative performance consultant, leadership coach, and 6th degree black belt in Aikido.

Integrating understandings from organizational leadership, psychology, language action theory, martial arts, and other mind-body disciplines, James gives us an eye-opening view of what really happens when organizational collaboration goes well, and what to do when it doesn’t.

Verdict: Through personal insights and stories, this book brings to life the five principles and the three key conversations that enable us to make Full Contact with our colleagues. And the simple practices provided help us recognize the action inherent in every word we speak, the role our body plays, and how our attention determines the success of our collaborative performance.

As noted, the book is organized in three parts. Part 1 is about building new awareness about what is really happening when we’re collaborating (or trying to). In Part 2, he looks at the three main types of conversations in organizational collaboration. Using examples and anecdotes, we’ll see why these three conversations are important and how to approach them.

And in Part 3, he shifts his focus squarely back onto ourselves. Here, we are reminded that, regardless of the circumstances or personalities we may be facing, we, ourselves, are always the central figure in our collaborative encounters. Here we will revisit a recurring theme in the book: the power of shifting our attention back to ourselves, beyond the specific content, circumstances or thinking we may be engaged in with others.

He also offers a handful of simple practices that will expand our capacity for clear thinking and skillful, respectful collaborative action, even in their toughest situations. The epilogue offers some final thoughts on Full Contact Performance.

So, if you’re a senior executive leading multiple teams or functions, you know that your company’s success hinges on how well your leadership team members think and learn together around what matters most for the business.

If you’re a manager or team lead, you know how critical it is for your team to solve complex problems together, to engage skillfully with folks on other teams or functions, and to execute impeccably - to do what they say they’re going to do and to take responsibility for the outcomes.

Even if you’re a sole contributor and have nobody reporting to you, you still need to work with others - even if it’s just your boss (sometimes the most challenging person to collaborate with).

With few expectations, if you work in an organization, you interact with other people. Some of the folks you must collaborate with may be delightful to work with, and some you might never choose to work with in a million years. Yet there they are, and here you are. That’s life in organizations, even for the boss.

And as the author himself freely admits, I wrote this book for anyone working in an organization who wants to transform, or at least greatly improve, their collaborative performance at work.

In conclusion, James shows that we ourselves are always where the real action is whenever we’re trying to get things done with other people. This is great news, because it means we each have the power to transform our collaborative performance, regardless of our circumstances, no matter who we’re working with.

About the Author - Grayson James has been helping executives, boards and senior management teams improve their collaborative business performance for over 30 years. In addition to coaching senior executives and teams, he facilitates organizational change initiatives and provides collaborative leadership education internationally through his consulting firm, Grayson James Consultants, LLC + Full Contact Institute. He designed and also leads the highly acclaimed Full Contact Collaboration workshops worldwide. He lives in Sonoma County, California.

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