True Collaboration is a Way of Being

“Almost every attribute of your potential—from intelligence to creativity to leadership to personality and engagement—is interconnected with others.” -Shawn Achor, Big Potential

Overall, Western culture is very competitive and individualistic.

Think about it: We’re taught to keep thoughts and ideas to ourselves so that others don’t steal them, to value individual achievement over collective growth, to take as much as we can get, and to climb to the top of the success ladder at the expense of others and our fulfillment.

We even learn this in school. We dread group projects because we always know that one person will do most of the work while others mindlessly go along with them.

Not conducive to collaboration, right?

The thing is, we can only get so far on our own. Whether or not we want to admit it, we’re a social species that evolved in tribal cultures. We were designed to work together. This doesn’t erase our individuality but rather amplifies it. When we combine our efforts with others, the impact of those efforts multiply exponentially. We are so much more together than we are apart.

It’s time to unlearn years of unhelpful practices and beliefs about working with others.

Here’s how we define collaboration at Redmond, how that’s different from what we usually think of as collaboration, and what this actually looks like in practice.

What is collaboration?

Simply put, collaboration is living and operating in a way that makes synergy possible.

Synergy: When our combined efforts result in an outcome that’s greater than the cumulation of our individual impact. We’re more than the sum of our parts.

Collaboration isn’t just a thing we do, it’s a lifestyle. It’s a way of being and functioning as part of an effective team, whether that team is your work team, your family, your partnership, church congregation, volunteer group, town, or society as a whole.

Collaboration is a mindset.

Collaboration is a natural result of living our Redmond core values.

It’s being connected to each other and letting the information, ideas, responsibility, ownership, and Ubuntu flow freely. It’s caring about the cause more than your own agenda and knowing that your perspective and ideas alone aren’t the only way to fulfill our mission. (Hello, Occhiolism!)

It’s realizing that you don’t have to do everything, know everything, or be good at everything.

It’s wanting to be helpful to others and to a common cause and knowing that you have a part to play, but you aren’t the whole show.

It’s offering to help, sharing your perspective, knowledge, and resources.

It’s understanding that we need each other and that we are so much more together than apart.

We don’t force collaboration, but we do strive to cultivate it, create space for it, and build a culture and systems where collaboration is inevitable.

The more you deeply understand this, the more effectively you’ll be able to collaborate.

Why collaboration?

Isn’t it more efficient to divide and conquer, and for everyone to do their own thing?

That might be faster, but we’ve found it rarely fosters innovation or quality.

The thing about collaboration is that it provides clarity. When you have lots of different perspectives, you can understand an issue so much better, which means you can come up with better solutions together.

On top of that, collaboration is a way of being that leads to greater fulfillment. If everyone has a stake in the mission, then leadership is shared, responsibility is shared, and energy is multiplied, and we feel that our work is making a difference.

It’s like making soup. If everyone works on one element—chopping onions, browning the meat, dicing carrots—we make our individual contributions, but the real magic is when it’s all simmering in the pot together.

In true collaboration, everyone wins. Are we perfect at it? No. But we’re always striving to improve.

What Collaboration is NOT

This word gets misused a lot. We might have a lot of ideas about collaboration that really aren’t true.

Here’s what we DON’T mean when we talk about collaboration.

Cooperation - We usually think of cooperation as a good thing, but there’s a reluctant, begrudging energy around it that isn’t compatible with synergy. At best, cooperation is coming together for common benefits or to avoid losing benefits. It’s not coming together for a common cause.

Convincing - If you have to convince someone that you’re right, you’re not collaborating, you’re just trying to get buy-in. Collaboration is not starting with an idea and THEN working together. Collaboration has to be a part of the entire creation process, from exploration to execution.

Compromise - Compromise means that all parties have to give up something so that everyone is equally dissatisfied. It’s not a win-win situation. We want the best outcome imaginable!

Consensus - We work to get as close to a consensus as possible, but not through persuasion. We keep working toward clarity until an obvious solution emerges.

Collectivism - Collaborating isn’t about making yourself smaller to blend in. It requires you to become MORE of yourself, develop your strengths, use your voice, and put yourself where you can make the greatest contribution.

The purpose of collaboration is to create clarity, not necessarily a consensus (though consensus is great, and happens quite often after enough exploration). This isn’t the team lead just doing things their way. It’s gathering the perspectives of the group, seeking understanding, and looking for the next right answer.

How do we create space for collaboration?

Let’s get concrete for a minute. How does this actually LOOK in practice? How have we set ourselves up for this to happen?

It’s a blend of formal meetings and actions, as well as generally nurturing a culture where collaboration happens naturally.

Meetings and check-ins

Collaboration naturally flourishes in an environment where it’s safe to share what we’re seeing and trust that we’re not going to get in trouble. We want information to flow freely.

We like to schedule regular team meetings, 2-1 check-ins, and other formalized checkpoints where groups can get together and share what they’re seeing, and explore what it means together. If it’s scheduled, it’s more likely to happen instead of getting lost in the everyday work.

Well-rounded teams

We want well-rounded teams made up of individuals with developed strengths that complement each other when they work together. This naturally creates the opportunity for collaboration!

Group leadership

Another thing we do to allow collaboration is a group leadership structure. This means teams and processes aren’t led by individuals, but by a small group.

We also strive to be a “leaderful” organization where everyone can take a lead in their area of strength!

This allows for more effective leadership because it combines several different perspectives, strengths, and work styles. Two (or more) heads are better than one!

A culture of exploration and self-understanding.

Around here, we always say “Don’t prove yourself, improve yourself.” (This is a quote from Dewitt Jones.)

We don’t want you to try to be better than anyone else. We want you to be the best version of you that you can be.

After all, you wouldn’t have been hired if we didn’t believe that you have something unique to offer. Don’t worry about proving it, because we already know. Just put your energy and focus into finding out how to improve your gifts and skills to be more helpful.

We strive to get to know ourselves better, to develop our strengths, and to pursue our Three Circles. That way, we’ll understand the unique contribution, which expands our capacity to effectively collaborate. Never stop exploring!

How can you become a more effective collaborator?

A good place to start is with our core values. Review the Core Values regularly as a team and individually. Pay attention to areas that are going well and some areas that could use some practice.

Here are some more tips:

• Work on getting to know yourself better.
• Get to know your teammates, and others in the company.
• Practice the core values. (Ubuntu and Occhiolism are especially helpful!)
• Share what you’re seeing, even if you don’t know what it “means.”

Above all, collaboration is a mindset where you’re always trying to understand other perspectives and what’s going on around you. It’s curiosity and paying attention.

When we’re in a good groove with collaboration, it feels natural, and it’s simply the best way to do things!