HIGH LEVEL COLLABORATION

“I collaborate” a person said to me this past week, “I do my business and I leave others alone.

I don’t bother them or speak bad about them, I don’t criticize them behind their back, and I don’t invade their territory.”

“So that’s what you call ‘collaboration?’” I asked and he confirmed that yes it was. “Well, I’m delighted to hear about the things that you avoid. By not bothering others, speaking bad about them, criticizing them behind their back, or invading a territory where they are operating, that speaks very well of you. It speaks to your ethical values and your respect for them. But there is a lot more to collaboration than that.”

At that point he wanted to know what else collaboration involved. “True collaboration, collaboration that is real and authentic and which builds community involves four more things.