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Working Together
In the United States, April 22, 2002, marked the 32nd annual observance of Earth Day. The idea behind Earth Day is simple yet powerful: In 1969, Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, decided to use the teach-in model popularized by Vietnam War protests to organize a nationwide, grassroots protest against the destruction of the environment. In 1970, some 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day.
Earth Day is fundamentally about collaboration. For the event to be successful and meaningful, people must participate, and that participation is essentially work of some sort--making the effort to ride a bike to work or walk instead of driving, sorting recyclables, remembering to bring canvas bags to the grocery store.
That work is the basis of collaboration--practically and etymologically. The word derives from co, meaning together, and laborare, to labor. The two ideas contained in the word roots are instructive. Collaboration is about coming together and joining forces to achieve a common goal, and collaboration is work. It takes dedication and commitment to not only decide what should be done, but to do it.
Collaboration at its best is not about one day and not about one person; it is about what can be built over time by a group of committed individuals. Collaboration is proof that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
In this issue of The Sophist, the theme of collaboration recurs. In "Collaboration and the Learning Organization," we see how the traits of effective collaboration match up with the characteristics of learning organizations, in Peter Senge's sense of the term. "E-philanthropy: The Challenges of 'Donate Now'" points out that most of the e-philanthropy success stories arise in situations characterized by collaboration among nonprofits or across sectors.
This issue also introduces a new, recurring column, "Monolog." The mini-interview presents one person's point of view and reminds us that short and sweet can be more compelling than long and dry.
The Editors
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