And when has it failed?
I Know Failure.
Failure in collaboration comes in two flavors. One: bad collaboration. Two: no collaboration.
The second is harder to taste. It's not as disturbing as a collaboration-turned-sour. It numbs. It doesn't need to be spit out.
I have worked as a loner for so long.
It hasn't looked that way. In the workplace, I have always been surrounded by people. Kind, smart, talented people.
But I have been alone at my desk.
During the past two years, that has changed. A lot.
It makes me very happy.
The Circle Is Widening.
As I join hands with others — members of Vistage, Gestalt coach training classmates and faculty, other peers, audiences — I find myself in ever truer, ever deeper collaboration.
During the past week, I've realized — in the surprising presence of two new kinds of collaborators — that I am still quite alone. I operate as an independent sub-contractor. Out of my home. And car. And others' offices.
The Benefits of Independence…
I have blossomed during the past two years, unencumbered by office, staff, and formal collaboration.
…Give Way To The Benefits Of Interdependence.
Now, I'm ready to start deeper collaboration. Let's take off the handcuffs.
If you and I are already working together, let's ask each other: How can we transform our relationship?
Let's move from:
client | coach
Vistage member | Vistage chair
student | teacher
mentee | mentor
to:
collaborator | collaborator
teacher | teacher
role model | role model
No handcuffs.
Back To The Buber
Let's work to rise from:
I-IT
To what Martin Buber described as:
I-THOU.
No handcuffs.
Impending Collaborations
Here are the collaborations I foresee:
- I'm opening an office. Except I won't "office" there. I will use it as a private place to meet with individual collaborators. (More on that soon. The space has been arranged, but I haven't moved in. When I do, you'll hear about it. For now, think: TINY.)
- I'm wondering about creative collaborators. I am surrounded by talented potential collaborators: Vistage chairs and members, Gestalt coaches and clients, writers, illustrators, shamans. I have learned how valuable collaborators can be. (Examples: Matt Slaybaugh and Rob Emrich.) Collaborators can teach me as we go. Because the highest collaboration lives at the intersection of Teaching and Learning.
Which raises a question…
What's The Best Way To Start A Collaboration?
I don't know.
Here are my first thoughts. It's in the form of a tapable story box. Just tap it.
(If you cannot see the tapable story box, click to here: readtapestry.com/s/RtA0Xn4sp.)