The Mutual Admiration Club

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Collaboration is a magical thing. It’s a word that describes when 2 or more people come together and achieve something far greater than would have been possible, had they attempted it on their own. It gives meaning to the phrase “many hands make light work”. It signifies the value of focussing on our strengths, finding others who’s strengths fill the void of our weaknesses and together we become unstoppable. It’s a powerful concept.

But, collaboration can back fire. It can literally blow up in your face and it happens, at least in my experience, when there is a lack of authentic admiration and respect for one another. I have witnessed countless collaborations to come together, only to observe, as time goes by, the partners in collaboration turn on each other. At first, it’s petty stuff, things that should have been discussed and boundaries set in place long before you decided to engage. Chris Flett, known for his bluntness, wrote a post last week, hi-lighting some important questions to ask before you partner up. The one that I think many, especially women, would have glossed over is “How am I likely to piss you off? How am I likely to get pissed off?”. This question is far better asked before a collaboration gets started, then after you’ve already started to piss each other off, and hence the ‘blow up’ looming.

A way to avoid this tragic end to what could have otherwise have been a life changing experience, is to ensure that you have bullet proof admiration and respect for one another before you begin. If you don’t, don’t collaborate – you’re setting yourself up for major disappointment.

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:11 am and is filed under 1+1 = 3 The Power of Collaboration, Blog, Heather White - Strategy, Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “The Mutual Admiration Club”

  1. Heidi Says:
    November 10th, 2009 at 10:49 am

    Hi Heather!

    I suspect that there is a level of self-awareness that allows you to answer the questions that actually has more to do with your success in partnership than the answer to the question.

    When things in relationship (whether marriage, friendship or business) get petty, it’s all about getting stuck in your own perspective and reacting from your place of fear. Only self awareness, hard work and true presence can help you move past that and into a space of openness and true “listening.”

    I came across this article just this morning by Daniel Goleman – it applies here, I think: http://www.ijourney.org/?tid=615

    Thanks for the thought provoking post!
    Take care!

    [Reply]

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