The Collective Edge

A fascinating exploration into the surprising science of group dynamics that will forever change how you live and work

Your life is full of groups. Your work teams. Your families and friends. Your race, religion, and nationality. But most people explain the world in terms of individuals. We spend surprisingly little time thinking about what groups really are, how they work, and how to get the best out of them.

The Collective Edge will change the way you think about the world around you and your place in it. Our tendency toward cooperation is the foundation of human accomplishment. Nearly every scientific discovery, world-changing business, desert island musical album, and legendary sports team has a great group at its core. Groups, and group dynamics, are at the heart of the human story.

Yet living and working in groups is both a blessing and a curse. Too often, groups are in the news for all the wrong reasons: conformity, polarization, prejudice, conflict, and general mass stupidity. The secret is understanding how to work with the invisible forces of group dynamics instead of being mindlessly pushed around by them. Once you start thinking at the group level, you’ll understand:

• How to build teams that can be more than the sum of their parts (synergy)
• How to harness the motivating power of competition without inviting in conflict
• Why conformity pressure can sometimes be positive
• Why effective group leadership is different than you think

Colin Fisher is one of the foremost experts in the world on group dynamics, and he skillfully weaves together the latest scientific research with vivid storytelling. He helps explain everything from billionaire yacht-collecting habits to Star Trek villains to the 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. In doing so, he shows you how you can use the surprising truth about group dynamics to help you succeed in life and at work.

Since his days as a professional jazz trumpet player, Dr. Colin M. Fisher has been fascinated by group dynamics. As Associate Professor of Organizations and Innovation at University College London's School of Management, Colin’s research has uncovered the hidden processes of helping groups and teams in situations requiring creativity, improvisation, and complex decision-making. He has written about group dynamics for both popular science and management audiences, and his work has been profiled in prominent media outlets such as BBC, Forbes, NPR, and The Times. Originally from Redmond, Washington, he now lives in North London with his wife and two children.