Why a tight co-located core is still required in organizations

Following on our post Why Face-to-Face Relationships Are Still Essential to a Creativity Culture, we need to recognize that some successful collaborative endeavors have flourished across continents in the past few years, using the tools of the Fourth Revolution: Linux, the Anonymous, Wikileaks, to name a few. Some high-tech companies like the acclaimed software company 37signals leverages a worldwide community of programmers, and it has become common practice to hire remote contractors anywhere in the world.

What is then the difference between those organizations which can work collaboratively and remotely, and those that require co-location to create the appropriate context for creating their value?

The actual difference is between the core of the organization and the collaborators. The core of the organization always requires tight collaboration, that always leads to co-location and face-to-face relationship. It is the only way to create effective teams that create incredible stuff.  And when one looks at the great examples of remote collaboration, there is always a co-located core of the organization.

Around this core it is possible to leverage a more or less tightly knit network of (occasional or permanent) remote collaborators.

The size of the core depends on the activity, the type of project and the endeavor. Sometimes even it can remain at the level of one or two individuals for simple and straightforward creations. This is why it looks like sometimes it is pure remote collaboration.

The incredible value is always created in a co-located core of the organization. Where is your core?