"It's the Collaboration, Stupid"

I work in the IT field and "Best of Breed" is a common aspiration and a very noble one at that.   However, it always rings hollow for me.   When I hear it, I think of some utopian society from Logan's Run .

I was reading through a friends presentation from IBM Innovate 2013 and this line caught my attention:

'For [us], "best of breed" doesn't matter - elimination of barriers to collaboration does.'

There is a big advantage to finding whatever tools or process allow the better part of human nature to come through.  As social creatures we have an innate need to belong and to work on something that matter.  Good collaborative tools and good agile processes make that natural and at times fun.

Note: These opinions are mine and not those of my employer.