Authentic Collaboration: Lessons from Disney on the 5 Aspects of Working Better Together

Collaboration is key to success in every organisation and across every society. For Human Leaders, authenticity is an important driver of what we do. So, what does it mean to Collaborate Authentically? And how do we go about it?

In the latest episode of We Are Human Leaders , Sally and Alexis speak with experts Edward J. van Luinen Ed.D and Cerrone Tricia who met working as leaders at Walt Disney Imagineering, and together have founded the Authentic Collaboration method. Authentic Collaboration is a new way of looking at how we work together based on five behaviors, designed to create stronger, more collaborative teams while developing your people and energizing your workplace.?

In this conversation, Edward and Tricia share the five key behaviors of Authentic Collaboration, and help us understand these by exploring their real world experiences. It’s a must-listen for all human-centered leaders!

The surprising story behind Authentic Collaboration

The framework is founded on their own experience of being brought together as leaders and equals on an important new project at Disney. Tricia unpacks how challenging she found this initially: “When we were thrown together at Disney, we weren't expecting it. I was very direct. ‘Get it done or get out of my way’ type thing. So when my leader asked me to collaborate with Edward, I was shaking my head silently and panicking.”

“We are really different people, different politics, ideologies, genders, styles, personalities. Thankfully, we both have a sense of humor!”

She shares how quickly this feeling dissipated when they met. “Edward asked simple things like, what is your workload? How do you like to communicate: text or email or meet? And he's offering this generous spirit to me, this openness of being willing to work with how I want to work, which in turn makes me want to reciprocate.”?

What stops us from collaborating authentically?

As Tricia lays out during the conversation, authenticity is often used as an excuse for poor behaviors. As she explains, some leaders accrue barriers of insecurity, ego or pride.

“They're not authentic anymore because they have these barriers which become a filter to how they see other people and how they act. With Authentic Collaboration, we’re removing these barriers.”

Authentic Collaboration is an inherently positive approach, and Edward underscores just why this is so important. To outweigh the inherently competitive environment in modern organisations, he explains, we need to double down on the positive intent behind Authentic Collaboration.

What is at the heart of it? Edward puts it simply: “Care drives authentic collaboration.”

The pitfalls of tech in collaboration

Tricia shares some of the latest research which illuminates that despite the billions spent on collaboration tools and software, these have actually made the problem worse. As she frames it, “Now, we're dehumanizing each other through the technology.”

She goes on:

“The basic unit of collaboration is the person. So, set your behavior to engage with other people and make everyone better, stronger and brighter.”

Just like us at Human Leaders, Tricia finds the work/life balance model archaic. “Work being separate from the rest of our life doesn't work for us as humans. We spend eight hours a day in an office and no one's solving for making that experience one that's actually human.”

It’s this gap that led to the powerful concept of Authentic Collaboration.

What are the 5 aspects of Authentic Collaboration?

Authentic Collaboration is an innovative and deeply transformative model for working together more effectively for better outcomes at all levels. As Edward shares, it starts and ends with two key human attributes. “Generosity and gratitude are human behaviors, which have been either forgotten or denied their importance in the workplace.”

Tricia agrees, explaining how

“Generosity creates this sense of safety for people to problem solve and take risks and contribute.”

By way of example of gratitude, Edward shares that “Tricia and I made it a habit to give written, physical thank you notes to the leaders that were contributing to our project within 24 hours.” This immediate and deeply personal form of gratitude in turn contributes to the co-creation aspect of Authentic Collaboration, highlighting the interplay of the 5 aspects.

Where can you start on the journey to Authentic Collaboration?

Our experts advise starting with existing strengths you can leverage. In Edward’s words, take a look at the 5 aspects and reflect: “what resonates with you? What's your strongest behavior? What's your behavior that presents the best opportunity for you to make an impact? Repeat it. Try it again and get a pattern for yourself that's making a difference and all the behaviors together.”

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts or right here .