ARTWORK

In the German language, collaboration in its original sense has a negative connotation: according to the Duden dictionary, it means "cooperation with the enemy or occupying power directed against the interests of one’s own country." Collaboration is, thus, the encounter with the enemy for the purpose of achieving one’s own goals. By now, a more sophisticated meaning of the term has prevailed that equates collaboration with close cooperation as is the case, for example, in artistic collaborations or joint projects. In this sense, collaboration always entails encounter with the purpose of achieving common goals or treading common paths. To the extent that encounter is the prerequisite for the initiation of any collaboration and, therefore, has a central importance for a thriving collaboration: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression".

In order to make collaboration successful, an adequate kickoff is needed (keywords: communication, team building) as much as are places to encounter one another. These can be virtual or physical, but in any case designed to promote lively and creative communication and support collaboration (keywords: activity based working, interdisciplinarity, self-organization, agile working / learning).