In his unique book Dialogue and the art of thinking together William Issacs introduces the Four-Player System originally developed by David Kantor. This is a very important technique for supporting real collaborative thinking in teams.

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With the explosion in social software and the recognition that these types of systems need to reach critical mass to survive and prosper it is amazing that so few people seem to be applying the well-established philosophical principles of living systems (autopoiesis) to design for sustainability.

There are many ways to diagnose dysfunctional teams: lack of shared objectives, poor co-operative working practices, weak leadership etc. However taking a purely biological perspective opens up exciting possibilities for significantly improving dysfunctional team performance.

Cooperation is neither rational not fair but it works! In a webstream from the Royal Society Professor Martin Nowak of Harvard University explains "How cooperation evolves in biology and life?"

Lateral leadership skills are what you need to get the job done when you are not the boss of the team

One of the main dilemmas for team leaders and members is the thorny issue of responsibility. We often fixate on the problem of members (or leaders) not taking enough but Dr Scott Peck, renowned psychiatrist, reminds us they can also do damage if they try to take too much!

The Christmas Truce is the true story of how British and German soldiers in the trenches on Christmas Eve 1914 called a truce and celebrated Christmas Day by singing carols, exchanging gifts and playing football together.

Pheromone-based messaging is the oldest and most evolved form of biological signalling using chemicals to communicate through smell and taste. Today's virtual teams and mobile groups can use it to improve the way they use email, messaging and presence-aware technologies.

From studying nature's bioteams it seems there are 3 dominant patterns of communication which can be used in a biological group. All three also have their place in the electronic communications we use in our human teams. However one of them, if over-used, can be destructive or indicate the absence of crucial group support structures.

What is Teamwork? Although there are many different definitions, in nature the definition of 'teamwork' is very precise. There are four different types of "teamwork" in biological teams: Solowork, Crowdwork, Groupwork and Teamwork itself. A bioteam knows how and when to use all four forms - the choice depends on the specific task at hand.