From Competition To Collaboration: Growth Through Collaboration Between Creatives
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go?together.”
The creative space is a tricky one. Between trying to protect our intellectual property and trying to differentiate ourselves, we often forget what makes our industry so great. Uniqueness.
Many industries (if not most) require individuals to put a lot of time and resources towards the same single topic or information to thrive. The creative space is unique because creativity looks different in every single person. There is no standard guide or path used by all creatives – our stories are all different. It is this fact that makes us believe (very strongly) that the best thing for creatives is collaboration. We inspire each other, we build together and we can make much larger waves as a group. Let’s break this down.
Benefits of Collaboration
Collaboration?is an incredible way to exchange ideas between like-minded individuals. But there are a number of other benefits, including:
Creatives that are more inclined to work together exhibit a higher rate of?productivity?compared to those who work alone, especially because there is a new sense of purpose that is established due to a common goal being shared.
There is no better cure for a creative block or an overwhelming task than a good collaborative brainstorming session. Shared happiness is double the happiness and shared sorrow is half the sorrow. By sharing your challenges and ideas with other trusted creatives, you will find the process goes a lot smoother than trying to keep everything crammed in one mind.
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Two minds are better than one. That is exactly what happens when people collaborate. Because you have someone else to hold you accountable and to encourage you, you pay more attention to detail which, in turn, increases your overall execution.
No one is good at everything. Yes, people can be good at multiple things but no one is good at everything. We all have our specialities/our niches. Collaboration offers a unique learning experience because as we collaborate with other creatives, it allows us to learn new skills and?techniques?we would have otherwise never learnt if we were working alone.
So YES – collaboration is key!
But we couldn’t complete this newsletter without pointing out the obvious: PEOPLE STEAL CREATIVE’S IP.
Although collaboration is always better than competing against other creatives, there is a major concern with regard to protecting our intellectual property when sharing ideas and going to others for help. A general rule should be to ALWAYS credit other creatives when you draw inspiration from their work and for more long-term and brand-specific ideas, you could ask collaborators to sign an?NDA?(Non-Disclosure Agreement) to protect your ideas and trade secrets from being used outside of collaborative spaces. In this way, it creates a safer collaborative creative space without having to stress about losing your ideas to someone else.
Being a creative is incredibly fulfilling. Don’t let the strain of trying to compete with others weigh you down, because people need people.