Talk about taking your work seriously: while working on a recent research report on collaborative commerce, analysts at Forrester Research heard a radio broadcast of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, performed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

The earnest researchers were so enthralled by the performance that they rushed out to buy the CD, and discovered from the sleeve notes that the Orpheus is a "conductor-less" orchestra.

Naturally, they were immediately able to draw parallels between the Orpheus and the collaborative enterprise. "This group of talented musicians opts for a process with constant communication and distributed adjustments over the heavy-handed decision-making of a single, baton-pointing leader," says the Forrester report.

A clumsy analogy, perhaps, but one that conveys a compelling message: "Collaboration offers powerful options for managing networks of highly specialised partners".

Time to take a well-earned break, perhaps?