John Seely Brown, one of the world’s foremost experts on collaborative learning, often finds best practices in unexpected places by looking at startling results. How did five friends from Maui, for example, all become world champion surfers—a statistic unprecedented in the sport? It turned out that through techniques like filming their practices, systematically studying films of their rivals, and adapting tricks from other sports, the group had created a community of practice that’s a model for collaborative problem-solving in any field. The underlying structure is simple:Create a learning community to study best practices.Create self-directed knowledge-refining groups.Study adjacencies, repurpose innovations.