Collaboration Does Not Mean Teamwork
There’s no doubt that collaboration is a critical skill for the future of work. (Well that’s my view, what do you think?…)
In a connected world, significant progress isn’t about the lone genius. From collaborative leadership to collaborative software, the modern workplace is being re-engineered to enable us all to achieve more together.
However what too many leaders fail to realise, is that teamwork is not a synonym for collaboration.
Just getting a team together to solve a challenge doesn’t mean that they’re collaborating.
They might be. Then again, they might not be…
Examining the meaning and origin of words is a simple yet highly effective technique to develop your expertise. Just as being able to take an engine apart improves your ability to increase its performance, the same principle applies to language.
So pause for a moment and think about what you most likely already know about the meaning of the word collaboration.
Or more specifically a collaborator.
Which means far more than just co-worker.
In times of war who do collaborators work… or collaborate… with?
That’s right – the enemy. Or extending the concept further, people you wouldn’t normally expect to work with.
So as you build the collaboration capability of your organisation, challenge your default behaviour. Push far beyond the boundaries of conventional teamwork.
Many people complain about organisational silos – but then fail to take simple actions to create change. Like inviting unexpected guests from other departments to your meeting. Or holding your meeting in another team’s area. Or spending just 10 minutes of a one-hour meeting breaking out of the room to gain spontaneous input from others.
Many leaders appreciate the importance of structured input from customers and other stakeholders through formal processes such as market research and empathy interviews.
However, most have yet to discover how little effort and planning is required to blur conventional boundaries as part of everyday business practices.
Inevitably when I first suggest getting customers or other unexpected stakeholders involved in the very early conceptual stages of a project or Futurelab, I’m met with hesitancy. It happens so frequently I know that it’s never a fault of the individual – it’s the cultural norm that traditional business processes have conditioned us into believing.
“It’s too early. We need to talk privately. They might confuse things. We need to be more prepared…”
Yes – if this was about control and presentation.
But more often in the future of work it’s not. It’s about creativity and collaboration.
Having led many organisations through this Futuready shift in thinking and approach, I know that the collaboration experience is transformational. From literally busing leaders to their local primary school, to spontaneously bringing next-gen staff into an exec meeting, the resulting shift in perspective is both inspiring and enlightening.
So as you head into your next meeting, don’t just work with your team.
Collaborate beyond your team.
Transform your future
To schedule a call with Futurist Dave Wild to better read the signals of the future please contact our Business Manager at andrea@dave-wild.com