col·lab·o·ra·tion

Collaboration.

Merriam-Webster defines as the "the action of working with someone to produce or create something".

A peer of mine further defined as "the ability and willingness to put your differences aside, whatever they may be, and to come together to create something".

Another as "the agreement between separate individuals to contribute their unique gifts and skills in order to achieve something bigger than any one individual could do on their own".

There it is, now we're jamming.

How would I define peak collaboration?

"A group of Einstein's, all incredibly talented and the absolute best at what they do, coming together to accomplish the improbable". But I've been called dramatic, so take that with some salt.

Now that we've defined collaboration, why are we talking about it? Why are you reading this? Time is money, this had better not be a waste. We all can agree generally that collaboration is a positive thing, but what are we really talking about here?

Here we go...

Collaboration, true collaboration is risky. Now, that is worth talking about.

Collaboration takes humility. Inherently, to collaborate with someone else means you can't do it all by yourself. Potentially, that you, individually, just aren't capable of accomplishing what you need to. You need help. You need to compensate for a deficiency. To admit that, is a risk, so why take it?

One of my peers said that it is necessary to "have cross functional groups hear how decisions affect each aspect of the business". Valid point, but we're just cracking the surface with this. Another expounded: "No matter how driven one individual is to achieve an end goal, if the others are not aligned with the vision it will cause aggravation and disappointment". I love this one because I believe it recognizes the need for collaboration, while still playing it 'safe'. Said differently, the one needs the support of the many to ensure everything is executed. My favorite answer? "You can have the best of most everything, but if you don’t have collaboration, the enterprise will likely either fail or never realize its potential".

And there it is, that's why you take the risk.

I could give dozens and dozens of examples to help illustrate my point, but time is money, so let's keep this brief. Collaboration starts with a basic assumption, you have something that I don't, and together we can achieve more than we can individually. When putting a team together, I look for technical diversity, ideological opposing views, and honestly, just a general lack of natural cohesion. Risky? Yes. Rewarding? You have no idea.

My goal is that the next time you approach a problem you can't solve on your own, you take that risk and collaborate to the extreme!

Just remember this about collaboration, it takes time and an open mind.