The notion of a lone genius has always been a myth. As W. Brian Arthur observed in The Nature of Technology, innovations are combinations, so it is unlikely that anyone ever has all the pieces to the puzzle. Even Steve Jobs depended on a small circle of loyalists. Today, however, the ability to improve the best collaboration effectiveness is becoming a key competitive advantage.
Check out our thoughts on team leverage.
Improve collaboration effectiveness.
The years teach much which the days never knew.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Before we get into tis discussion, here is a short video on several collaboration videos.
A very interesting quote by Emerson, isn’t it? In your career, how many smart people have you been exposed to? I’ve had the good fortune of being exposed to many. It never ceases to amaze me how just a few moments of discussion, or sitting and listening to well thought-out debates, can open your mind to ideas you can’t believe you didn’t think of on your own. And at the time, we probably didn’t think too much about it. But over the years, ways to improve collaboration make a big difference.
How many times in your business career have you been in an organization where real energy was expended to build team collaboration? How successful were these efforts? To build team collaboration is not an easy job, is it? But we’d all agree that the payoffs certainly outweigh the efforts, wouldn’t we?
Over the years in my career, I’ve had the good fortune of being exposed to many smart people and worked as part of many teams trying to build team collaboration. It never ceases to amaze me how just a few moments of discussion, or sitting and listening to well thought-out debates, can open your mind to ideas you can’t believe you didn’t think of on your own.
I’d like to share a story with you.
I used to work out at a gym that’s run by the Fraternal Order of Police. I mention this to note that there are no employees at this gym.
When I first started going, I noticed that the weights were always on their appropriate racks. The organization was pretty impressive.
Over time, however, some key people started leaving the gym in favor of Planet Fitness because the gym really needed new equipment. Bad habits started to set in, and I even found myself being affected—as someone who otherwise prides himself on being organized and a team player, I would leave weights out on the floor.
Then a funny thing happened: the gym added new, updated equipment, and the regulars started coming back. It was fascinating to see the transformation that occurred afterward—once the “leadership” returned, their behavior affected everyone else. You would never find a single free weight out of place.
Beyond my personal story is a common principle in leadership: behavior of leaders cascades down to the rest of the group. A psychological phenomenon known as “negative social proof” would argue that the “right thing” to do becomes questionable when people see the right people doing the wrong things.
This sort of influence can also seep into your employees’ behavior through subtle nudges in language. Statements like, We do things by the book around here to actively discourage creative thinking. Be careful about what sort of behavior that leadership, unwritten rules, and key team members project.
In a recent article in Harvard Business Review, Bain & Co. partner Michael Mankins estimates that while a typical executive in the 1970’s might have received 1,000 messages a year, that number has skyrocketed to more than 30,000 today and argues that we may “have reached the point of diminishing returns.”
I think just about everyone can see his point. Today, the amount of meetings, emails and IM’s we receive can seem overwhelming and it’s increasingly hard to find uninterrupted quiet time to focus and concentrate. However, the nature of work has changed. The real reason that we communicate more is because, today, we need to collaborate more to be effective.
I have always found the ability to learn from collaboration with others to be a fantastic gift: free of charge, limitless of value. Limitless of value because the pearls of wisdom you can pick up can be connected to some of your ideas to produce something greater than what you might have created on your own.
In thinking about exploring, imagining, creating, learning and collaborating with others, the following thoughts cross my mind:
Openness to others.
Best collaboration … openness to others
Openness is not achieved by reading about it in a book or from a class. It comes from lots of focused practice. It comes most readily in those that have achieved a sense of self confidence as they live in a widening circle of individuals from other backgrounds and persuasions.
Imagination and exploring
Imagination is the ability to see what is not there. Creativity is applied imagination. Exploring is being open to, and experimenting with, new ideas. And innovation is putting good ideas to work. All are stimulated through effective collaboration.
Curiosity
Curiosity tends to emerge from growing personal experience in as many areas as possible from growing experience in widening groups of people. It too doesn’t just come to you … it takes lots of engaging practice, engagement, and collaboration.
Creativity and learning
Creativity is not a quality that is only found in the chosen few, but not everyone is as good at finding it as others (though everyone can improve with practice).
Types of collaboration … focus on innovation
Creativity and innovation by necessity requires different people with diverse perspectives and expertise to cross-pollinate with fresh ideas. Set the bar for innovation very high and creative collaboration becomes an expected part of the culture. At that stage, people have no choice but to start silo-busting.
Team collaboration activities.
Best collaboration … eliminate biases
Do not get branded by your job description. Think well outside those bounds … all the time. Add as much value as you can, as often as you can.
Improve collaboration effectiveness … ideas from others
Build on other people’s ideas. Do not knock them down and try not to start on the ground floor. Connect ideas as often as you can. Take notes and review them periodically for more connection.
Here is another example that is worthy of your attention. It is on the subject of testimonials.
7 Simple But Powerful Customer Testimonial Examples You Can Steal
Linkage and enrichment
Collaboration anywhere offers great possibilities for linkage and enrichment rarely obtained without it. Collaborative learning through widening linkage are among the most powerful and enduring methods of understanding.
We are all very busy: personally, professionally, and socially. One of our scarcest resources is time. Time to sit and think. To stretch our own limits. To learn new things. Time to imagine, create, explore, and experiment.
As Emerson said in the quote above, time can often be a teacher. Let it.
But if you are as impatient as I am, look to your colleagues, your friends, your mentors and to your own self to challenge you to reach new heights. Tap into the parts of your brain you may not use every day. The parts of your brain you may not even realize you can tap into.
Most of all, reach out to others to collaborate and to learn. The sum of the team collaboration is always greater that the work of each individual.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to learn and collaborate. Lessons and opportunities are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
It’s up to you to keep improving your continuous learning from all around in your environment.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Remarkable Lessons in Motivation Steve Jobs Taught Me
How to Create Honest Employee Trust and Empowerment
The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done
10 Positive Thinking Ideas from Peers and Mentors