Are there aspects to collaboration that cause concern for you?
Is it possibly the idea of working with many people?
Or maybe it is the fear of not being heard in a group setting?
Or is the worry of so many voices having a say seem like a headache of unorganized opinions?
For me, all of those aspects of collaboration have transpired in some way or another in my experience working with others. In the moment, these questions brought up concern. Is this project even worth it? Maybe I should just try this on my own. But in each situation, every challenge had its solution. And the collaboration effort always far exceeded any attempts done by one individual alone.
So, how do we push through the moments of collaborative hesitation. Here are five ways to make sure your project of cooperation continues on a path of promise…
1. Work from a place of positive persuasion. The art of persuasion is truly a gift. And it can be used for good and evil. As has been demonstrated by Hitler and other leaders that have caused mass murder of those that they consider of less humanistic qualities, negative persuasion has been the cause for much heartache. But in the end these evil processes of collaboration dissolve. In the long run, the type of collaboration that will succeed is one that comes from a place of creating better for others. If each collaborative project began from a place of positive persuasion, the heart of the cooperation will guarantee success.
2. Be nice. It sounds so basic. But it is the truth. The nicer we are to others, the more they are inspired to become involved. Whether it involves sitting back while others take the helm, or it means giving a person showing passion an appreciative pat on the back, it is the small acts of kindness that help all of us feel valued.
3. Create a dream box. A dream box is a special place for those involved in the collaborative process to place their dreams in written form. With writing the thought out, it makes it that much more real. The box helps bring the collective thoughts together in a non-threatening way. At the end of the month or quarter, having a get together to discuss the wishes will help inspire the group as a whole.
4. Include appreciation in your collaboration. One of the great aspects to working together is being able to use each person’s strength. But always keep in mind that there should be reciprocity. In other words, that person’s expertise should be compensated in some way. Whether it is goods or services, or maybe just a hug, showing appreciation for what others bring to the table will inspire even greater positivity.
5. Help others achieve success. If your collaborative efforts are helping others to accomplish their highest potential, the results will come back around to help the collaborative process in the end. The struggling writer, artist, construction worker, nurse, etc, that the cooperation process is helping could be its savor in the future.
“Or is the worry of so many voices having a say seem like a headache of unorganized opinions?”
This comes from a common mistake among many cooperative enterprises. Because people come from a place of disliking hierarchy, they tend to create a model based on consensus decision making. Consensus decision making is the most highly evolved process that any human can engage in and requires that every individual’s primary concern is the collaborative over the individual. I am not sure that most of us are ready for this.
The other issue is the Movie Problem — one person can easily pick a movie, two people can readily pick a movie, three people need to be in sync, four people become difficult, and 10 people starts reaching the impossible. The amount of coordination, compromise, and negotiation becomes exponentially more complicated as the number of people increases.
So, if a decision making process that involves everyone making every decision cannot something as simple as a movie in numbers as small as ten, it is impossible to use this method for more complicated and numerous decisions.
There are mechanism to get around this. One of which is proxy voting. This is representative democracy base on competency, trust, and mastery.
Overcoming this one problem is, in my opinion, the most challenging problem of collaboration.
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Hi Das,
Thanks so much for the very kind words. They are much appreciated.
Cheers!