© Reserve 2012

Copyright by Vasu Thevan Gengadharan. All rights reserved. Published by the author. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This book is intended to provide valuable information about the subject matter covered. Neither the Author nor the Publisher accepts responsibility for inaccuracies or omissions. The Author and Publisher specifically disclaim any liability, loss, or risk, whether personal, financial, or otherwise incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the use and/or application of any contents of this book.

In the event you wish to use this material for business purposes, kindly contact the author at vasudevqlc@gmail.com to discuss and collaborate for a win-win benefit. Integrity is inevitably an essential component of good and lasting collaboration.

ISBN NO: 9789672674504

Published: 2022

Published by: Vasu Thevan Gengadharan; Puchong, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Table of Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

UNDERSTANDING INTELLIGENCE

Understanding IQ & EQ in relation to CQ

Competencies are supported by Intelligences

IQ/EQ/CQ Competencies

SuperTeam

IQ Monopoly

It’s time for CQ

Fear-focus made the human unintelligent

Stress has reduced our Collaborative Intelligence

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE (CQ)

Relationship Between Collaborative Intelligence And Collective Intelligence

How to describe Collaborative Intelligence in relation to Collective Intelligence?

Why the Collective Intelligence, by nature, is in the direction of expanding Human Consciousness?

CHAPTER 2

6 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CQ AT WORK

THE WHOLE LOSES WHEN PARTS FUNCTION SELFISHLY AND EVENTUALLY THE PARTS LOSE TOO

“Self-Agenda” Gravitation Destroys CQ

THE WHOLE GAINS WHEN THE PARTS ARE IN SYNC AND IN SYNERGY, LEADING TO THE PARTS GAINING MORE

Collaborative Positioning

LONGING TO BE IN ONENESS WITH OTHERS IS INHERENT

Brain Mutation

FEELING OF ONENESS IS THE CENTRE OF INTELLIGENCE FOR EFFECTIVE PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND TEAMWORK

EGOISM – The Cause of Low CQ

Collaborative Clarity

CollaborativeChemistry

5 states of Relationship Chemistry

Correlation between States Of Chemistry and thought tendencies

States Of Chemistry and its possible consequences

Linear Vs Circular collaboration

CQ Oneness Technique

CQ Savings & Owings

CQ Breaks

Human Touch Keys

CQ EXPANSION IS WITHIN THE CONTROL OF A TEAM AND NOT AN INDIVIDUAL

How to raise CQ of an organisation or the human community

ORGANISATIONAL CQ CAN BE RAISED BY SETTING FOCUS-CONTROL

How To Set Focus Control to Increase Organisational CQ

My Experience On The Application Of The CQ Fundamental Principles In Corporations

CHAPTER 3

“F.O.C.U.S.E.D” MODEL TO INCREASE CQ AT WORK

F - Focused On Common Purpose And Interest

O - Optimism In Achieving Team Goals

C - Centered On Solution, Not On Attack-Defense Game

U - Unconditional Relationship

S - Synergise Differences

E - Empathetic Communication

D - Demonstrate 2P Partnership

CHAPTER 4

MEASURING CQ OF A TEAM

Team CQ Assessment

Interpersonal CQ Assessment

Assessment Methodology

CHAPTER 5

5 CQ STIMULATORS AT WORK

See the unified intention behind all diverse expressions of human behaviour and flow with it

Sense the oneness in team member’s inherent goodness and communicate from that connection

Function from “win for all” mentality and negotiate work matters in a collaborative manner

Progress continuously in mutual trustworthiness through every possible way

Let go your ego and don’t focus on others ego

CHAPTER 6

APPLYING HIGH CQ AT WORK

Effective Discussion For High CQ

Guidelines To Conduct Brainstorming With High CQ

Methods Of Communication When Handling Staff Attitude

Instilling Trust

Handling conflict

How to be connected with the subordinates

CHAPTER 7

6 PARADIGM SHIFTING IDEAS OF CQ

1. Competitive edge is in focusing more on raising CQ of a working group than individual development

2. Become aware of the single unifying principle in the synergy of diverse unique expressions that evolve quality of life as a team

3. Competition and collaboration are complimentary and are the contributive forces of business evolution

4. Personal success agenda must be in sync with group success agend

5. Focus on improving the relationship chemistry with co-workers and not the behaviour

Without continuous focus on “CQ Empowerment” Collaborative Intelligence of a group will drop

CQ TOOLS - REFERENCE

THE CALL - To The Corporate And Country Leaders

ABOUT ME - THE AUTHOR

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the victims of high stress at work, the families of war victims and the unfairly treated communities around the globe.

My special dedication to all the great teachers who had been born on planet earth to teach us the importance of unity & care, and to all the corporate leaders who propagated values- based management.

My deepest gratitude goes to the doctors, nurses, forces and all the volunteers who risked their life in battling Covid19 and saving the human species. I dedicate this book to them as well.

My dedication extends to the scientific community as well who had made our life more healthy, comfortable, and safe. They play a major part in the advancement of the human community on this planet by providing clarity on nature’s secrets and debunking falsehood.

FOREWORD

“Vasudev has been immersed in human development endeavour for decades. His practical & simple techniques are focused on results & outcomes beyond just productivity. They have already been in use & has benefited individuals & organizations. The insights in this book need to be treated with respect & reverence. The tools & exercises can support your own shift in achieving equilibrium to become a more grounded executor & contributor. Now it's in your hands...the voice is thorough him the choice is yours”

- Yazdi Jehanggir Bankwala

International Speaker Contributor of “Spirituality and Ethics in Management”

Co-author of “Integrating Corporate Values in Journal of Human Values”

“Good to have Vasudev demonstrating his 29 years of work experiences in shaping collaboratively a book on “Collaborative Intelligence (CQ) at Work”. This book will positively provide solutions to the many life issues that we have seen in all spheres of our life including our work life.

Many a times, individuals in a work setting strive to only seek an answer to the question of “What’s in it for me?” Now with CQ, we hope the shift arises to “What’s in it for us when we achieve collaboratively?” in building collaborative teams.

A sense of true collaboration takes place when the mind, heart and words harmoniously collaborate. This could only be achieved when the personal intelligence collectively merges to create collaborative intelligence. The author has provided how this is realized in the six principles of CQ at work.

My prayer goes to the Author in succeeding to assemble his individual intelligence to give birth to a book that will leap from teamwork to real collaborative work, not only at work but at every work that we do. This is achievable by leading a collaborative and symbiotic life eroding from the individual “I” to the collaborative “we”. With this book, let us collaborate to celebrate.”

- Asohan Satkunasingham

Author, “A+B=C, Practical Guide for Students to Develop Attitude and Behavior for Character Building” A

Malaysian Best Seller

Co Author, “Are YOU the Missing Piece? An International Best Seller

PREFACE

Welcome to an evolutionary paradigm that supplies solutions not only to the problems faced at work today but life as well. I introduce myself to the readers as a friend who wishes to share a unique body of wisdom in simple language (I hope so). This book is attempting to create a shift in all human beings. I know that it will bring meaningful clarity leading to greater happiness at personal level, and higher teamwork & team spirit with people that you are working with. Please forgive me for any ignorance of the rules in writing a book. I just want to speak from my heart. The readers are encouraged to listen to my words from their HEART as well. That’s the most effective way to understand Collaborative Intelligence (CQ).

Can we work happily in a team that has poor teamwork and team spirit?

Teamwork and team spirit are acknowledged globally as the foundation for organisational success. It creates the conduciveness for work happiness and reduce staff turnover. However, from my experience, there seems to be a tremendous amount of carelessness and ignorance in achieving them. This is due to the notion that the behaviour of others is not within our area of control. That makes teamwork quite a “beyond control” thing, and it’s a mere “hope” factor.

There is a sort of “life wire” that ignites team spirit and teamwork in a team besides coordinated skills and attitude of the team members. This book is attempting to reveal that special understanding. Hope the readers are sufficiently alert to discover it. It is simple but may look abstract for this complex mind; however, one can blissfully sense it upon effective contemplation. Let me give some hint here. Experiencing your own happiness or success is one thing but experiencing everyone’s happiness and success collectively is another thing. Both are experiences of different levels within us. Shifting from an individualized mind set (singular) to a universal one (plural) shifts behavioural tendency, competencies, and sensitivities completely. When every member in a group  (family/team/organisation/society, etc.) move from pursuing individual happiness to universal happiness, that group functions more intelligently towards achieving its wellbeing and success goals. This is the next evolution of consciousness in mankind. You will never be the same when the shift happens.

Currently, the people who are operating beyond an individualized mind-set are just handful in number and they became great leaders. The material in the book becomes common sense for these people. However, the majority will not be able to relate to it easily, due to which I must express myself from a very individualized mind set and make it easy for learning purposes. The depth of the material shall be according to your depth.

Teaming competencies are teachable but not Teaming Intelligence. Intelligences cannot be taught but can be empowered when we put into practice the related wisdom and tools. This book reveals the way to raise Collaborative Intelligence in relationships, especially amongst the team they are working with, to raise the teaming intelligence.

I have 3 decades of working experience and 30 years of training, consulting & coaching experiences in the corporate world. Based on these experiences I found that people, in general, do not know how to balance personal happiness with performance. They are seemingly not capable enough as a group to create a happy & harmonious working environment in parallel to good performance. Good performance seems to go along with high stress. Meaning – if you want to be a good performer than it goes along with willingness to cope with more stress. I guess “performance seriousness” has over shadowed work happiness which, to my opinion, has been taken lightly. I am not saying that performance needs to be sacrificed for happiness. On the contrary it is in dispelling the illusion behind the unhappiness experienced at work during arduous performance. Happiness is an experience within oneself that empowers creativity, work passion, tolerance, and that which inspires one to go forward. Having happy workers who are performing very well is a jackpot to strike. “Performance” should not be made the fear-factor or the enemy to happiness.

From a universal viewpoint about the “human being”, I used to wonder if we can call ourselves the most intelligent species on earth anymore because we are the only species that creates stress, gets bored, worries, commits suicide, and kill our own kind. We are the only species that endangers the ecosystem and the wellbeing of this planet in so many ways. To my opinion, we are gradually destroying the world and the future of generations to come, and yet not very conscious of our ignorance. I will be happy to be wrong here. I suspect strongly that the readers will agree with me.

There is a similar kind of ignorance that is pervading the corporate environment and its hindering organizational profit and progress. Let’s find out by patiently reading this book.

DERIVING AT “COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE AT WORK” MATERIAL

The beginning to this material started in 2005 out of a unique experience. I have difficulty putting words to this experience. I woke up within me in the middle of the night and experienced heavy gush of ideas and concepts flowing into my mind. These were materials that opened new areas of clarity which puts people-management into order and reduce human stress in the corporate world. The very awareness of the material, shined as a kind of  white golden light, and I heard a strong hunch that said “YOU HAVE TO TAKE THIS TO THE WORLD. MANY ARE SUFFERING”. As weird as it can sound, believe me, it was a moment of no doubt and no limits. Something forced me to get up physically and write out the messages and sketch out the concepts. Unbelievably the entire material got structured within 2 hours. The material was then called as “2P Paradigm”, which has become part of this book now. From there the material evolved to “Collaborative Intelligence”. The next day I handed over my resignation as a director and a partner to the other partner and walk out bare handed with just an old laptop. It obviously shocked everyone, but I don’t know from where the courage and the heart came, to let go a company that my partner and I build for the last 5 years. Almost 40% of the material in this book came from the “2P Paradigm” material.

My interest in the term “Collaborative Intelligence” occurred during one of my deep-thinking moments when I was contemplating on why organisations that I’m engaged with are constantly having communication and teamwork issues despite of countless effort to improve them. I was also wondering why it is seemingly beyond personal control to empower better communication & teamwork. One key factor to that is - lacking “Sense of Ownership”. Instructional or autocratic methods used by leaders to enforce teamwork, to my observation, kills the sense of ownership in the team members. In fact, autocratic leadership style often causes them to function less intelligently when they had to collaborate as a team. Consequently, the term “CQ”, represented as Collaborative Intelligence, appeared on the screen of my mind as an intuition, just as how intellectual intelligence is coined as IQ, and Emotional Intelligence as EQ. It just occurred to me that maybe it is already an existing term. Thus, I referred to the Wikipedia and to my amazement I found that Zan Gill, an Evolution Theorists, was already propagating about Collaborative Intelligence, and the term CQ was also used by some people. The history behind the term “Collaborative Intelligence” or CQ” as per this book is rooted to scientific studies, related to evolution of species, by various scientists. The mechanisms of evolution through which species adapt towards increased functional effectiveness in their ecosystems are the foundation for principles of collaborative intelligence. Evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr discovered that competition among individuals would  not contribute to species evolution if individuals were typologically identical. Individual differences are needed for evolution. According to her, this principle corresponds to the principle of collaborative autonomy in our human society. Collaborative Autonomy means the unique talent and participation of individuals in collaboration towards a common goal. This had set the que for my exploration on how teams in organisation can evolve into a more intelligent team.

Note: The abbreviation “CQ” is being used here to represent Collaborative Intelligence. Just as IQ is for Intellectual Intelligence and EQ is for Emotional Intelligence.

I saw CQ as the missing link and the tipping effect for organisational success. I realized that many of the current organisational issues would disappear if CQ was in place. I believed there weren’t much emphasis on CQ in the corporate world except within the scientific or academic based societies. Seeing the larger picture, I conducted some research & development on my own. It took me 4 years to test, compile and create the CQ material for the corporate world, and I came up with workable methods & tools that would raise CQ of an organisation. This book is the result of those findings. I felt that finally the root solution for many organisational issues has been found but empowerment aspect of CQ was slightly complex. Another 2 years of research and tests were conducted silently on how to train a team and raise their CQ. CQ can only be understood and developed effectively through an interactive process and not lectures. I combined my experiential learning methods with CQ material on raising a team’s CQ effectively. We discovered a new training methodology to raise CQ in organisations. It’s called as “Team Chemistry Rewiring Process”, which is a relationship alignment process, to enable teams to work cohesively towards better results.

I fully support Zan Gill’s views, who believe this is a fundamental need for the progress of mankind and there is a desperate need for it. I’m thankful to her for laying the scientific foundation. I have expanded the subject matter to enhance human wellbeing at work and I want this material to go to everyone around the world. I believe more research & development is required in this area. I hope more capable people come forward with passion in this area to  structure this knowledge better and make it friendlier for education & training institutions.

Many ideas shared in this book were deep insights that dawned on me as though there is urgency for this material to be transmitted to the world through me. Although the concepts and material in this book seem like “common sense”, there seem to be an x-factor behind the material which is pushing its way to reach the society. It has already shown its results through the training conducted by me nationwide (Malaysia).

Dear readers, this is an interactive book. Let’s ponder on the following questions seriously:

These simple questions raised above, if sincerely considered, will help stir & steer our mind, and tow our needs to find solutions to important things in life that are often taken for granted by the mass. The material in this book leans towards human wellbeing, especially at work. Its main purpose is to push human limits to the next level so that people in organisations can live effectively, in harmony with each other and demonstrate more intelligence while working or living together.

With regards to the corporate world, I can say, as a corporate coach, that there are many managers out there who tend to be more operational rather than being strategic in their thinking. They are often caught in their day-to- day fire-fighting that they lose sight of the larger picture. It’s my nature, as a consultant or coach to often set their mind and pull them out from their problems/chaos for a while, to look at how matters can be solved strategically.

My team and I were utterly convinced that poor collaboration is the root cause of many issues at work. We discovered the contributors to achieving high collaboration, which will be highlighted in the later chapters.

As a problem-solving consultant, I’m often engaged by organisations to solve their problems. Invariably many of their problems, to my conviction, can be solved through simple means of collaboration yet it seems to be the hardest thing to do for them. I noticed that the solutions to their problems can be found more easily if all the stake holders of the problem get together and collaborate effectively without any egoism attached to their ideas. If we put our mind together anything is possible to be achieved.

I used to wonder why discussions go smoothly when I am present in the group. Hope it doesn’t sound egoistic, but that’s the truth. We discussed, brainstormed, planned, negotiated, and solved mountains of unresolved problems, but it is not the case when I left it to the team. They often go into “attack-defense” tendencies for trivial issues and lose sight of the main objective, feeling demotivated to work together. I realized that the CQ is high in my presence because of the manner I conduct the discussions. Probably that is the advantage a third party has. CQ seems to drop when it is left to them because the negative working chemistry formed from all their past interactions seemed to have a very high influence on their behaviour. It then occurred to me that there is such thing as “group intelligence” because I  could see clearly that the group became less intelligent in my absence. The word “Collaborative Intelligence” just appeared in my mind from nowhere and I instantly saw it as the missing link to team excellence. Upon checking I found out that the word “Collaborative Intelligence” had already existed, and some evolution theorists were talking about it in a highly scientific manner. Only recently a few others started talking about it from a commoner’s perspective. This was my experience that stimulated the CQ subject.

Another remarkable realization that I personally encountered in the pursuit to solve organisational issues is – there seem to be an invisible interpersonal chemistry in all human interactions that influences the quality of communication and behaviour. This is a crucial area which cannot be taken for granted. I took interest in doing some analysis in this area and identified this interpersonal chemistry as a kind of “Intelligence Field”. I saw that as a component of Collaborative Intelligence, which manifests visibly as good teamwork, good communication and good relationship building. I could see that chemistry alignment is the key to increasing Collaborative Intelligence at the workplace.

Based on my observation, all organisations in general, are continuously longing to improve teamwork and communication. These 2 factors are more important than anything else to succeed in business besides having the right product or services. Attempting to improve teamwork and communication is synonymous to increasing Collaborative Intelligence (CQ) in the team. I felt the desperate need to share our work on CQ material to the whole world providing logical perspectives and practical tools to raise CQ in their organisation. It is clear to me that almost all organisations are currently deprived of CQ understanding, due to which they do not have good control on teamwork and collaboration within department and between departments. After a lot of debate, analysis, cross references with other consultants and discussions with many leaders in organisations, I realized that this CQ material is highly needed and must be articulated rightly for  greater results. This is how this book came into existence. I saw the material here as the current missing link to team performance. I’m determined that huge amount of profits are hidden behind this material for the corporate world.

Dear reader, it is my humble request that you have an open mind towards the perspectives shared in this book. Attempt to experience the space of clarity that I want to share with you, without the interference of personal definitions and prejudice. Humility is paramount to effectively understand the thoughts and insights highlighted, which are necessary for effective understanding and application. My humble apologies if I’m not word-perfect in the English language and for any other thing that may affect you adversely as you read this book. I could be wrong with some of the information and ideas shared here from your opinion. If so, please forgive me easily and move on with things that you agree. My ultimate intention is to help you gain greater wisdom. Any statements made that don’t have factual back up are merely my personal opinions and the readers are free to accept, reject or be indifferent to them. The information is left for you to check intuitively – whether it resonates with you or not . There is an inner wise person in each of us who will resonate with the thoughts generated here. I request that you get in touch with the wise self within you during your interaction with this book. When interacting with the information and the timely knowledge shared in this book you are bound to sense the “greater work” present. I’m depending on that noble notion in you to trigger an interest in spreading the knowledge of CQ to everyone around you. If possible, initiate greater research & development on CQ realities and add more references to substantiate easier application and quicker results.

Important note: Please do not waste energy on obsessive analysis or in debating these perspectives while you are reading this book. IQ alone is incapable of understanding CQ sufficiently. If there are disagreements, it is usually related to a definition or it’s just a contextual issue. People have their own definitions and right/wrong references and can be very sensitive about their beliefs being challenged. You have the freedom to disagree, but I request you to be open to new opinions. Be opened to look at things from my reality, for a while. Some of the topics here can be debatable. Allowing for  disagreement is a good thing but seeking clarification and truly understanding it before disagreeing is much encouraged here. This book is a kind of a trigger tool to awaken that which has been there all the while but has been obscured by our self-centered mental habits and references. This wisdom inevitably is needed by organisations and people on earth. It is not about something that you don’t know. There is an intuitive intelligence within you that will recognize the context shared here. The attempt is to awaken that which you already know.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The main contributors to this book are the organisations that I have rendered my training/consulting/coaching services. My observation and analysis of their problems at work while doing the development and consulting work gradually lead to the realization of CQ as the missing link. I wish to thank all these companies which made it known through public and in-house programs. The development and upgrading of the material were possible because of these companies as they enabled the CQ training to be tested, upgraded, and approved as a good training material.

My gratitude also goes to GD Express, Triangle Worldwide, Hawk Logistics and APS Manja Sdn. Bhd. for enabling the CQ material to be used in building their organisation through my weekly/monthly coaching processes.

My involvement in community service NGO’s such as Satya Sai Baba Organisation in education and development has inspired me tremendously in some areas of the CQ material and it is solely responsible in instilling the mission-oriented spirit within me that you will be able to feel as you go on reading this book.

I extent my thanks to Zan Gill and her great work in the area of Collaborative Intelligence which had inspired and supported this material in a way.

My special thanks to Ms. Sai Usha, Ms. Shaamini, Mr. Leong Chew Poon and Mr. Asohan for coming forward to assist in refining the articles in terms of language and presentation. I appreciate their intense passion to see the material reaching the mass and benefitting mankind.

Lastly, I wish to extend my heartiest gratitude to Dr. Pauline Crawford and Dr.James from the University of Entrepreneurology, and Prof Suresh Govind from University Malaya, for streamlining my thoughts and content in the book towards making it more organized and authentic in the ideas presented. They played an important role in the landscaping of the presentation in this book.

Lastly, special thanks to my wife ‘Santha’ for being my life support in my life journey which enabled me to freely allocated time and energy for all my development and service work; and ultimately my mother who gave me my conscience.

INTRODUCTION

UNDERSTANDING INTELLIGENCE

This word “Intelligence” is a highly respected word by people from all walks of life and it is described differently by different people. For a biologist, Intelligence is more biological; for a psychiatrist, it’s about mental capabilities; for the poet, it’s a mystical presence of love and beauty hidden behind creations and situations; for the businessman it’s the tool for success; for the politician, it’s the underground monopoly of power and economics; for an engineer it’s a kind of complex technological system; for the spiritualist, it’s divinity at work. Intelligence is present for real and it’s at work moment to moment revealing the wonder of creation. It’s behind all results. Let’s give due respect and reverence to it and experience thrilling appreciation for its role in our wellbeing.

Defining Intelligence

Generally, Intelligence as a subject, is most widely studied in humans, but has also been observed in non-human animals and in plants. Human Intelligence has been largely projected as an intellectual or a cognitive element in the human being. According to the Wikipedia, Intelligence has been defined in many ways including as one's capacity for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, and problem solving. It can be more generally described as the ability or inclination to perceive or deduce information, and to retain it as knowledge to be applied towards adaptive behaviors within an environment or context. Definition from "Mainstream Science on Intelligence" (1994), in the Wall Street Journal signed by fifty-two researchers (out of 131 total invited to sign): “A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability  for comprehending our surroundings— “catching on’, ‘making sense’ of things, or ‘figuring out what to do’, etc.”

My definition through this book validates all the definitions mentioned and it stretches beyond the intellectual boundaries, seeing it as a functional presence of life entity that manifests various capabilities, as response to changing needs in the environment or life, to SURVIVE OR SUCCEED at an individual level and more so through interactions at group/team/community level. In the later chapter of this book, I will be expounding on this powerful concept of group intelligence which ushers the entire community to the next level of intelligence.

Low Collaborative Intelligence within the human community was the root cause to the COVID-19 Outbreak and High Collaborative Intelligence was the root solution.

Currently there are ample of leadership models existing on how to improve teamwork and communication. However, in my experience as a consultant in leadership and teamwork for the last 30 years, I experienced moments of frustration whereby, despite all the models in place, the results achieved in terms of team excellence were not satisfactory. Something was wrong in the connection aspect of the people. This requires a different process entirely supported by a more expanded Intelligence called as “Collaborative Intelligence”. Zan Gill, an evolution theorist describes this as the “Unified Intelligence”.

Our individual survival instinct has its intelligences and can be recognized easily. But can we sense our group survival instinct and its intelligence in the same way?

ARE WE REALLY INTELLIGENT?

Let’s ponder why:

Readers are encouraged to ponder in their minds on the questions mentioned and determine whether we as a human race are really functioning with adequate intelligence to ensure the wellbeing and safety of our species. Or are we assuming that we can continue with our current level of intelligence and sustain our existence as a human species forever?

Understanding IQ & EQ in relation to CQ

My summation is IQ (Intellectual Intelligence) and EQ (Emotional Intelligence) are personal intelligences whereas CQ (Collaborative Intelligence) is an interpersonal intelligence as shown below:

CQ is not a personal intelligence. We can say “my IQ or EQ is high”, but we can’t say “my CQ is high”. What we can say is “my team’s CQ is high”. CQ is a relationship networking intelligence, experienced as the human chemistry, which can only exist between two or more people. We can feel this chemistry with the team or a person at an individual level through our emotional faculties. Feeling the chemistry in a particular relationship happens at the individual level. Recognizing and managing the feeling comes from EQ. The analyzing and evaluating on what is being felt comes from IQ. The degree of accuracy in feeling the CQ status in a relationship determines the EQ level of the individual. Those with high EQ will be able to feel the chemistry in a relationship more accurately and manage the feeling effectively. There are situations when the CQ is high in a relationship, but one cannot feel it at the individual level because of low EQ. The wife can be assuming that the husband does not show enough love although the chemistry is felt as good by the husband. CQ assessment at the individual level of a relationship can differ, so do the corresponding behaviour that is propelled out of the perceived CQ state. So, we can have both the person reading a different CQ status in their relationship and interacting differently. If the said wife is overindulging in the belief that the husband does not love her enough, soon the husband will start reacting to it adversely and CQ reduction between them will then be felt by both parties. The husband, if his EQ is high, can be sensitive to the CQ drop with the wife, perhaps will be able to quickly arrest it through proper communication or by transforming himself for the sake of having a good chemistry. So, EQ is needed to feel the state of CQ in relationships and IQ is needed to assess the relationship and draw appropriate strategies to raise it up.

IQ, EQ and CQ are independent of each other, yet they work wonderfully hand in hand or complement each other in synergy in order to achieve a particular result. That’s the beauty. They are inseparable yet they are independent. There are specific tools or methods to raise each of them. One may have high IQ/EQ but low CQ in a particular relationship or “low IQ”, “high EQ” but “low CQ” or any other combinations. Here is the interesting part – each combination will manifest a different set of behaviour in a particular relationship. A conman may have “high IQ”, “low EQ” but “high CQ” with someone in the beginning. Then the same “high IQ”, “low EQ” person is likely to have a “low CQ” in that same relationship in future when his conmanship comes to light.

Competencies are supported by a particular Intelligences

The expression of life is so beautiful. The best of the best manifestations of life is our own existence and the intelligence at work. It is one of the greatest wonders of nature. If we notice well, every behavioural movement and competencies are driven by unseen intelligences. What a design! What a wonder! What an exploration!

Every competency expected from an employee needs to be supported by an appropriate intelligence. Intelligence is invisible in nature, and it can be recognized only through the behaviour and competencies projected physically. We function daily by expressing these 3 intelligences IQ/EQ/CQ, which are the expressions of our existence that supports certain competencies expected at work. IQ is generally understood as the measure for Intellectual Intelligence, EQ as the measure for Emotional Intelligence and CQ as the measure for Collaborative Intelligence.

These intelligences are categorized as IQ, EQ, and CQ according to their function. There are other intelligences that I am equally passionate about, such as VQ or HQ (Values or Heart Intelligence) and SQ (Spiritual Intelligence) written by various people, which will not be touched here as they are still in a debatable state right now. IQ and EQ had been accepted widely throughout the globe as functional intelligences to bring about certain results, especially at work. Success or failure can be directly related to intelligence. More success needs greater optimization of the right intelligence. Desire for higher achievement is a call for more of the right intelligence.

Leaders of today agree that having talented and knowledgeable workers alone is inadequate for achieving departmental or organisational success. The Collaborative Intelligence among them must be fostered. The play of intelligence in our daily operation that influences our competencies and behaviours is complex.

Behind any behaviour or competency manifested visibly there is an appropriate Intelligence supporting it, as the following Iceberg Concept.

ICEBERG Concept

The visible Competencies and behaviour that are being projected at work can be regarded as the surface of an iceberg that we can see. The efficiency is determined by the unseen intelligences beneath the behaviour or competencies. The seen is small but the work of the unseen is huge. Every competency needs to be supported by an appropriate intelligence as the example shown above.

Let’s categorize the competencies according to the intelligence and  understand their interdependent relationship.

IQ/EQ/CQ Competencies

SUPER TEAM

A Super Team will have people with high cognitive ability (IQ), high motivation (EQ) and excellent working chemistry (CQ), assuming that the right skilled person has been hired.

High Cognitive Ability (IQ)→ High Knowledgeability; Strategic Thinking; Good  Planning; Critical thinking; Clarity of roles and directions; Effective Problem Solving, etc.

High Motivation (EQ) → Working Passionately;   Self   Motivated;   Being  Optimistic; Low stress; Initiative; Inspired Actions; High Morale, Low Complaints and blames; Low Back-biting, Low Absenteeism; Less MCs; High Commitment; Empathetic, etc.

Excellent Work Chemistry (CQ) → Cooperative; Team Player; High Team Spirit;  Excellent Teamwork; Good Communication and Interpersonal Skill; Harmonious Working Environment; Consensus Decision-making, Good Collaboration, Trusting relationship, Empathetic Communication, etc.

A working team gets into a deprived state when any of the intelligences is low in the team. Assessment of a team’s collective IQ & EQ levels is not an issue at all as the tools are all available in the market today. What is needed urgently today is a method to assess the CQ of a team. (Refer to chapter 4).

IQ Monopoly

Our Intellectual Intelligence referred to as IQ, distinguishes and differentiates us from all other species on earth. IQ is about the brain condition and how our mind uses the brain. Most of the academic institutions are generally IQ trainers. It trains a child on thinking competencies and prepares him/her for survival or to succeed in life. Academic qualifications and high IQ are very helpful for one to survive and succeed in life, but it cannot solely determine one’s level of intelligence, in its fullest sense. Graduating from Harvard or Yale cannot be the sole yardstick to say that one is intelligent and capable of helping organisations solve problems, lead teams, and make money, although they are deemed to be high performers. They are nevertheless the best candidate to be balanced with CQ and become a more holistic leader achieving superior results.  

People-management, which is the key competency of a leader, requires more than rational, logical, and analytical thinking. It may not be very wrong if one says that many academic institutions have not successfully trained people to listen well, empathize and live peacefully with others who are different. These qualities were likely to be learnt through the “University of Hard Knocks”. Academic institutions, to my opinion, have done great job in raising the thinking level of mankind but are not fully equipped to unite mankind effectively till now and have not nurtured enough responsible people and leaders towards global care. The survival of our species needs more than just IQ.

Real Case

A troubled couple came to me for counselling some time ago. They were in the verge of a divorce, due to 18 years of mistrust with each other and were unable to bear the sufferings they load on each other almost daily. However, the children being extremely against the notion of divorce propelled both the parents to explore a solution. They came to me for a counselling session. They were highly educated and were holding high positions in their working life. Their high IQ was useful in playing the attack-defence game cleverly that soon ruined their relationship chemistry. Their IQ was high but unfortunately CQ was extremely pathetic. Their entrenched ego position is the primary problem, which lead to the downfall in the relationship. My first challenge is to pull their mind out of their normal mental routine. My many years of experience helped me to tactfully direct their IQ towards increasing the CQ. The CQ process began with the question “what do you commonly want” and to my amazement, they couldn’t answer the question. Both the “high IQ” adults became less intelligent in answering such a simple question. It was literally a shock for me because I saw their frozen brain being demonstrated for such a seemingly easy question. I knew that moment that their intellectual mind was strongly wired to their feelings of “don’t want” that it couldn’t see what it wants. I had to assist them a little to change their mental direction. I proposed “Happy family and loving relationship” as the answer, and I saw their head picking its momentum in nodding a yes. Both agreed to that common “want” but showed mistrust gestures in the  achievement of it. The husband started saying “You don’t know about her. She....”. I stopped him there to ask “are you about to tell me what you don’t want from your wife? He said “Yes”. I reinforced that my question is on what is commonly wanted, and not vice versa. He had a paradigm shift when I told him that it was this long term “don’t want” indulgence that was creating all the mess in the relationship. The CQ process managed to pull them out of a very long period of “don’t want” indulgence. They have been psychologically tuned towards defending themselves against what they “don’t want” and were strategizing in that direction for the last 18 years. The moment the IQ is directed towards common wants and how to achieve them, a clear chemistry shift happened in their relationship. It needed a tactful handling that is required to salvage and redeem eighteen years of mistrust. With some follow-ups the family CQ were lifted, and the family was saved. Previously they were failing in their relationship due to ignorance of CQ although they had the capability to analyse through their IQ. Billions of relationships around the globe could be in the same situation as this couple. The real problem in relationships is – focusing on what they don’t want and fearing its consequences.

Achieving a loving relationship and a happy family is a struggle if it’s just at the IQ level. One can have high IQ but there is no assurance that he or she has the capability to listen, empathize and forgive. Similarly developing teamwork and team spirit is a struggle if it’s just at the IQ level, and there is no assurance that he or she can be a team player. Maybe IQ is adequate for Personal performance, but group performance requires high CQ.

It’s time for CQ

Upon completion of this book, you will discover that CQ is the missing link that is going to turn organizations around and humanity. Let’s proceed as if there is something here that requires our critical attention.

It’s natural to assume that we are addressing something complex, but trust me, it’s easy. It’s easy if we can only see through the lens of CQ, not IQ.

We should be aware on how we ignorantly bring down our Collaborative Intelligence in our day-to-day interaction with people around us. The superior could be throwing tantrum on the staff to ensure things are done effectively, with the assumption that it’s one of the best practices for effective leadership to get things done. This superior could be completely oblivious to the fall of CQ that happens because of this. It’s a short-term strategy. Any dip in CQ has its backfiring effect, at least in the long term.

The indicators of low CQ in human communities are reflected clearly through social disorders, economic imbalance, political upheavals, environmental disasters, etc. that we are creating continuously on this planet.

With regards to the corporate world, low CQ is demonstrated as:

Fear-focus made the human unintelligent

Fear-focused mindset is one reason for reduced CQ in organisations and home. People, in general, like to focus on what they don’t want rather than what they want. Why “worries” come easy compared to “gratitude” for many? Behaving out of “fear of losing” or “not having” somehow mysteriously generates its own obstacles to pursue success. This theory is applicable in the corporate world as well. Organisations want performance but often it focuses on the fear of not getting it. The entire HR management system, which includes X/Y theory, appraisal, hiring & firing, etc. are sometimes rooted to this fear. Fear is and will be the cause for low motivation, conflicts, and high staff turnover at work. The same phenomena are seen as chaos and wars created between countries and communities. A major part of the human society is investing in their negative vibration of fear as opposed to the positive vibration of what they want. Fear indulgence is a kind of vibe that is a mismatch to success vibe. This mismatch is being unintelligently practiced by the majority in their homes, at work, in countries and the world. Often “fear of losing” creates selfishness. It replaces the desire to think win-win and to have mutual gain. This leads to poor communication, conflicts and even war. Well, fear has its positive place too. It warns on dangers which need to be recognized for future positive actions and not for emotional indulgence. Leaders in organisations are very much encouraged to do some deep thinking in this area.

Stress has reduced our Collaborative Intelligence

Stress is opposite to peace. I’m talking about the bad stress. We have seen long term good relationships breaking in minutes due to stress, causing divorce or resignation, etc. I’m deeply motivated to assist the human mind to explore how peace can be created at home and at the workplace along with high Performance.

Stress has obviously increased in people’s lives, especially at work. Work stress has turned work into a disaster for some. People, to a large extent, do not enjoy going to work and have learnt to “tolerate” their dispassionate job functions. They live a suppressed life at work for the sake of money, which consumes almost 3/4 of their waking hours.

Work pressure is inevitable but there are those who are stressed up and there are those who can cope in the same pressurizing situations at work.

People (in general) literally force themselves to go to work, attend meetings, confront rude customers, negotiate business matters, meet deadlines, and are forced to endure the responsibility to fulfill somebody’s dream, etc. By and large we have created a stressed work culture that breeds negative attitude at work such as obsessive gossiping, attack-defense syndrome, throwing tantrum, using hurting language, create mistrust culture, take false MC, insincere absenteeism, MIA (Missing in Action) syndrome, etc. Stress has made the human community less intelligent. One can lose his/her mental balance during high stress, causing one to do all the wrong things which land them into miseries later. We, the human species had successfully made it to the moon, created computers, created the cyber world, cloned lives and created so much of sophisticated technology but do not know how to work peacefully as a team and perform well at the same time. We are intelligent enough to know the value of peace, but we don’t know how to achieve it effectively, especially as a group or with alliances at work. In fact, “Peace” is seen as a non-productive element by some bosses.

We have enough material on this planet for personal peace, but now, networking with others’ need for peace is critical. We have been negotiating with the world around us for our individual peace silently or loudly throughout our life, but now we need to negotiate peace for the world.

Struggle for peace will increase as CQ is dropping with each day. Can you focus on personal peace easily during a war?

STRESS MAKES A GROUP TO FUNCTION UNINTELLIGENTLY. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE MAIN CAUSES:

members are unable to harmonize their expectations with groups or leaders’ expectations

members are doing work that they don’t like

members are focusing on beyond control worries and lose their mental balance

members are unable to accept or adapt to change requirements

members wallowing in the feeling of unfairness

members wallowing in ego-based tendencies

members are wallowing in self-pity

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE (CQ)

The term CQ as Collaborative Intelligence was used in 1999 to describe the behavior of an intelligent business ecosystem, which means "the ability to build, contribute and manage power found in networks of people.

Wikipedia defines Collaborative Intelligence (CQ) as a measure of the collaborative ability of a group in achieving team excellence and harmonious working relationships. My best definition of CQ for our practical purposes here is – “It’s an interpersonal or group networking intelligence that demonstrates the degree of cooperation, collaboration and team harmony in their pursuit to achieve a mutual goal.” It’s a kind of teaming intelligence that decides the quality of teamwork and working relationship.

This book is exploring and expanding further the concept of CQ towards corporate management and performance. I wish to share my expanded version of CQ and make it a practical solution for the corporate world as well as for social groups.

Relationship Between Collaborative Intelligence And Collective Intelligence

It is paramount to differentiate “Collaborative Intelligence” and “Collective Intelligence”; otherwise, one can land into confusion.

What is Collective Intelligence?

The Wikipedia says Collective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals, and it appears in consensus decision making. According to Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, collective intelligence is mass collaboration. Thomas W. Malone (director of MIT Center for Collective Intelligence) defines collective intelligence as groups of individuals acting collectively in ways that seem intelligent. My meaning for Collective  Intelligence is more than the above definitions, which probably differentiates my offering in this book with others.

Collective Intelligence, from my viewpoint, is a kind of group survival/expansion instinct that is inherent in a species that enables its group to function, survive and progress by itself. The Instinct in all species is in the direction of survival & expansion in population (quantitative) but in the human it is also in the direction of expanding consciousness (qualitative).

What supports this view of mine?

Reason for this view is my observation on the fact that more male babies than female babies were reported to be born during and after the world wars upon the death of many men. Study by Dirk Bethmann and Michael Kvasnicka from Queensland University Of Technology (reported in the article “Why Are More Boys Born During War”) says the following: “In belligerent countries, male-to-female sex ratios at birth increased during and shortly after the two world wars. These rises still defy explanation. Our results suggest that war-induced shortfalls of men significantly increased the percentage of boys among newborns.”

The Collective Intelligence balances itself for the survival and expansion of the human