I found myself in a conversation yesterday about my desire to work "collaboratively".

I should note that this conversation was with a self-professed idealist and business owner. In talking about our (similar) ideas of collaboration I realised that one our sources of discontent was at definitional level - a lot of people have a lot of different ideas about what collaboration means.

These differences are not only significant but the source of much frustration. Being part of particular groups - industries, cultures, generations - makes matters more profound. Especially when these group differences are then coupled with individual ones - the reality is that some people tend towards cooperation and others towards competition.

Though all these perspectives are vital, and definitions must be suitably flexible, the complexity can make it difficult when you bring it back down to the level of work.

Sometimes it seems to me we are all supposedly playing the same game, but with a different understanding of what the rules are (and should be).

Before spiralling too far I thought I’d go back to the beginning. The origin of collaborate is from the latin "collaborare", meaning to "work together".

What is even more interesting is that it can be used in the positive "to work jointly on an activity or project" or the negative "to cooperate traitorously with an enemy".

To conclude, when seeking to "work together"/working with a new team might I suggest a conversation centred around what we mean ‘by working together’. Though it may sound boring, and it may be boring to be part of, you’ll soon see that not everyone’s answers will be the same.

In hearing their voices you may be able to come to an understanding, or at least gain a better insight into why that guy who sits in the same pod as you drives you nuts when you get stuck in a team with him.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 7th, 2005 at 3:13 pm and is filed under conversation, dialogue, musings, words. 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.