Rob Cross is the founder and research director of the Connected Commons, a consortium of over 100 leading organizations accelerating network research and practice.

Through research and writing, speaking and consulting, and courses and tools, Rob’s network strategies are transforming the way people lead, work and live in a hyper-connected world.

Drawing on fresh research, Rob Cross and Karen Dillon will explain the science behind what microstress is doing to you and teach you how to recognize and manage the most common forms of microstress, and even remove some from your life.

Explore the many ways network analysis can help organizations drive agility and alignment in the blog post, What is Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)? Or, learn more about working with Rob and his team to bring ONA to your change effort. Share!

In compelling stories that bring each chapter to life, Rob Cross documents the emotional toll and productivity drain of collaborative overload and offers a way out—with the concept of essential collaboration. Practical and wise, this book is a game changer.

Explore the many ways network analysis can help organizations drive agility and alignment on the on the Work with Rob page and in the blog post, What is Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)?

Organizations can then facilitate cross-silo connections, deploy expertise more effectively and engage influencers to ease acceptance of change. Read case study of a global restructuring of the IT function in one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies.

For innovation to happen, people need to feel safe to speak up, ask questions, admit they don’t know and contribute ideas. More effective leaders create cultures of trust to promote the collaboration and risk-taking needed to spark innovation.

Many of them described either a sudden surge or the slow burn of collaborative overload. Some stood out because they took action to put their lives back in balance. About 45 minutes into the interviews, their voices became much more intense and they confessed something like: “You know Rob, I hit a point in my life where I wasn’t healthy.

What drives this pattern: Distrust, disagreements or competition among leaders, functions or business units may be created by structural drivers, such as decision rights, or conflicting incentives. People may work at cross purposes due to goals external to the group.