This is The Collective Edge (formerly The Fishbowl), a community for curious people to learn how the science of groups and organizations can help us live and work better together. And have a little fun along the way.
Humans thrive and survive in groups. Living and working together isn’t easy, though. Much of the advice on living and working better is individualistic. Although what’s going on between your ears is a start, the real secrets lie in how we get the most from our groups, teams, and organizations.
At The Collective Edge, you’ll get twice-monthly newsletters that help you understand and shape your own moments of collaboration and creativity, mixing essays and interviews. You’ll also learn about social science, the writing process, and the non-stop action of academic careers.
The Collective Edge (the book)
And…it’s finally here! I’ve been talking about it for … well, I barely remember a time before I was talking about it incessantly. The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups is now available at a bookseller near you!
I wrote this book because the world NEEDS better groups to solve the most pernicious problems of today. But groups get a bad rap. I want to change that - to help people think differently about groups and teams and learn to get the most out of them. The book is a practical and engaging guide to the hidden forces that shape group behavior—and how to harness them to help your teams, organizations, and communities thrive. Even the buttoned-up Financial Times admitted that my “irreverent writing approach and pop culture references [were] enjoyable…”
About Colin
Since his days as a professional jazz trumpet player, Dr. Colin M. Fisher has been fascinated by group dynamics. Originally inspired by the profound influence others had on his experience as a professional jazz musician when improvising, he has been studying group dynamics, creativity, and improvisation for almost twenty years. As Associate Professor of Organizations and Innovation at University College London's School of Management, he teaches students how to lead and work creatively in highly collaborative environments.
Colin’s academic research has uncovered the hidden processes of helping groups and teams in situations requiring creativity, improvisation, and complex decision-making. He is the author of the book The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, and translated into nine languages.
He has written about group dynamics for both popular science and management audiences, such as his work in The Conversation UK , Harvard Business Review, and many other outlets, and his work has been profiled in prominent media outlets such as BBC, Forbes, NPR, Fortune, and The Times. He has also provided lectures and workshops to organizations around the world hoping to improve their creativity and collaboration.
His discoveries have also been published in leading scholarly journals, including Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Discoveries, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Negotiation Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organizational Dynamics, Organization Science, and Small Group Research, as well as in numerous book chapters and periodicals.
Colin received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University, and previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Boston University’s School of Management. Prior to his Ph.D. he studied improvisation in the arts at New York University (M.A.) and jazz trumpet at New England Conservatory of Music (B.Mus.). In his prior career as a jazz trumpet player, Colin was a long-time member of the Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra, with whom he toured extensively and recorded several critically acclaimed albums.
Originally from Redmond, Washington in the USA, he now lives in Northeast London with his wife and two children. He can sometimes be found performing at jazz jams throughout London.
