The "Collaboration Paradox" !!

Collaboration is the joint effort of multiple individuals or work groups to accomplish a task or project.

Most of us know why we need to collaborate and the obvious advantages.

?Yet, most of the companies are struggling with collaboration – teams continue to work in silos with clear demarcations!!

This is Paradoxical- we know that it will benefit us yet we are simply unable to work together – in business and in life !!

Let us travel back in time to?understand when and why we?lost our ability to collaborate instinctively !! ??

In ancient times, when we were still living in caves, we somehow figured that we needed to work together for survival. That was the origin of hunting and farming in groups. From thereon we moved on to building societies, and over time, evolved from agrarian to an industrial society and to where we are today - a digital society.?

Somewhere along the line, something called "competition" came into existence and in the last?25-30 years, it has intensified to unimaginable levels!!

We start competing in schools (class tests). Move onto competition in entrance exams and colleges and then compete for better jobs. BY this time, COMPETITION is ingrained in our DNA and comes instinctively to us (and why not, it has helped us grow).?

Over a period, we have become highly competitive and have started competing in every aspect of life – starting from education to jobs and everything in between!!??

While we were happily (or not so happily) competing for everything, technology started overlapping, and soon after, convergence was a reality, requiring people with diverse talents to work together. ?

The IT industry was the first to encounter this complexity. After initial struggle (and heartburn), the companies somehow ?realized that they need a systemic approach to solve the "collaboration paradox". The concept of RMG (Resource Management Group), Transient Teams, TDR (Tear Down Restructured) Teams etc. came into existence, supported by concepts such as DevOps, Agile, Design Thinking, Lean Thinking etc. Collaboration was forcibly implanted in the organizational DNA and everyone had to toe the line.

In the absence of such systems, we are still programmed to compete.

We have forgotten how to collaborate…

BUT, COLLABORATE we must !!

?We cannot see the saber tooth lions and the dinosaurs but they are lurking out there in their new avatars (as competitors) - waiting for us to come out alone, by ourselves.

?Joint effort, collective strength and team spirit is required for survival and growth!!

Our highly competitive spirit coupled with irrational and imaginary fear is holding us back from moving to the next level.

Competence and Continuous Improvement ?is the only way out.

It helps one develop confidence, shed fear and reach out to explore new horizons. Once we start working together, we rediscover our deep roots and get in touch with our primal instinct to collaborate !!

Research has shown that progressive and successful leaders compete only with themselves. They work on their shortcomings and are lifelong learners. They have this ability to focus on “the best way to complete the task” and not on who is doing it, They are constantly levelling up!!

?And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the solution to the paradox of Collaboration – to play the infinite game (called life) with an infinite mind as prescribed by Mr. Sinek or reach to the level 5 leadership as advocated by Mr. Collins or develop a Growth Mindset as advocated by Ms. Dweck or….!!

They are all talking about the same thing? - Collaboration, Agility and Levelling-up !!

?#dropintheocean