Like all execu-speak phrases, “co-creation” has suddenly emerged as the trendy hyphenated word of the moment – replacing the recent blockbuster “at the end of the day”. Executives in the know (or executive-wanna-be’s, who would like to appear in-the-know) use it as a great way to say “we’re going to build this thing together.”  However, the executives I hear using it could just as easily say “collaboration” or “brainstorm” or a host of other less trendy phrases.  I don’t think these otherwise extremely brilliant executives are fully aware of the implications this little powerhouse phrase contains.

Co-creation has its origins in improvisational theater, where actors randomly react in a scriptless environment, allowing each performance to be entirely unique and utterly un-reproducible. Is that what these executives are after when they want to co-create a project plan or strategy? Seriously? I don’t think so.

Of course, the rise of open source software, where users have full access to the source code and are empowered to make their own changes and improvements to it, has recently taken over the phrase “co-creation”. In this instance, co-creation means that anyone and everyone has full democratic autonomy to change and customize a tool to suit their uses, exclusive of how anyone else uses it.

Again, I ask – is that what these executives are truly after? If they are, then I tip my hat to them. They are the fearless leaders who will allow the common man to speak with equal  weight as the Director, the VP or even the CEO. Even so, in the end, an organization does not thrive on a complete lack of commonality or structure. Corporations need some form of structure and uniformity for their very existence.

So, while it sounds oh, so edgy and hip and even – dare we say it – glamorous – to bandy around the phrase “co-creation,” I would remind our executives out there that if you have someone like myself sitting in the audience, you have just pronounced open-season on anarchy within your office/division/organization and you must consider – is that really what you want? Or do you just want people to get creative and collaborate a little bit? If so – why don’t you just say that? Trust me, you will still be just as cool in our eyes. Maybe cooler.