Now THIS is classic Sesame Street. Classic. In this video, the Henson crew not only lyrically describes the impacts of cooperation, they also describe its viral and emergent properties.  Note that the Fonz-muppet sees the other muppets building and cooperating and is moved to replicate that. Then other muppets are all like, “Hey, that’s interesting, how can we help?” Then they go off to do it again.

Simplistic? Very much so. But accurate nonetheless. Cooperation is viral and as it spreads it gains momentum.

It’s like that in companies, where policies create either cooperative or isolating cultures. Cultures that focus on the dissemination of information as a means of getting things done establish a foundation for sharing and cooperation.  Cultures that avoid rigid role definitions and distribute decision making set this foundation as well.

Simple “seed” policies and an air of distributed decision-making can make it happen.

Cooperation.

Dig it.

Inside your organization, employees need instant access to all the institutional knowledge their coworkers have created. They need instant access to the knowledge available on the Internet. They need instant access to information generated by social tools like blogs and Twitter. And if you want to demonstrate your commitment to quality and excellence, your customers and potential customers need instant access to information about your products.

Information wants to be free. It needs to circulate for you to reap its rewards.

Photo by Ampamuka