Leaders are well aware of the central role that cross-group collaboration plays in business today. So in planning for collaborative initiatives, they think carefully about logistics and processes, incentives and outcomes. And that makes perfect sense. But in doing so they forget to consider how the groups they're asking to work together might experience the request--especially when they are being told to break down walls, divulge information, sacrifice autonomy, share resources, or even cede responsibilities. All too often, groups feel threatened by such demands: What if the collaboration is a sign that they've become less important to the company? What if they give up important resources and responsibilities and never get them back? This is the "collaboration blind spot." To make sure collaborative initiatives are successful, leaders must first identify threats to group security and take steps to minimize them and discourage defensive behaviors. Only then should they focus on process and outcomes.

China Data Group (CDG) is a leading business processes outsourcing company based in Beijing, China. Roc Yang, Chairman of CDG had to confront a dilemma when he discovered that one of his senior managers gave a gift to a potential client in an effort to win a large business deal. Although this practice was pervasive in the China business context characterized by heavy reliance on personal relationships or guanxi, it went against the founding principles of CDG - professionalism and service quality. Yang had to decide where to draw the line between adherence to principles of professionalism and local norms in a country caught in the midst of rapid economic transformation.