We usually think in collaboration when we want other teams or other people to do what we need. When we say «please, collaborate with me» we really mean «do what I say». Under this paradigm, words like persuasion come to our minds, «if I can persuade you, we can collaborate better». The real thing is that this is not collaboration, this is only dependency and can be easily solved by hierarchy. This means that someone makes the decision about what has to be prioritized.
But then, what is collaboration? It is clear that collaboration is a buzzword that we all love to say but we have to admit that it is difficult to define. We tend to think that it is just to work with other people or teams but I do not agree with this definition. I think that there are two types of situations when you have to work with other teams: co-creation and cooperation.
Co-creation
Sometimes you need to create something from scratch with other teams or other participants (people that are not team members). For me, this process is co-creation. To design and plan something with other teams or participants. In this kind of initiative, the team should keep as small as possible to avoid paralysis due to the difficulty of getting agreements with too many people and gather as much information as possible from other stakeholders to get the best decisions.
Cooperation
I understand cooperation when different teams build something together. In this case, the work has to be coordinated and tasks 1, 2 and 4 have to be done by team A, task 3 by team B and task 5 by team C. All these teams need to have enough contact points and highlight and manage the dependencies between tasks to ensure the feasibility of the project.
The factory model
Let’s see previous models. In a factory, the problems tend to be categorized between simple and complicated. There is a way to solve every problem and the more knowledge you gather the better chances you have to solve the problem. So, your position in the company is determined by your knowledge: operators, technicians, engineers, senior engineers, managers, directors etc. And problems only have to go up through the org chart to have a solution. When an operator has a problem they talk to the technician, and they in turn with the engineer, etc. The bigger the problem, the more you have to scale to find the solution. But in the knowledge industry, the problems are not simple or complicated, are complex, and to solve them you can’t only scale them.
A problem is complex when no one has the complete picture of the issue, only a partial view of the topic. We have a limited vision and this has a secondary effect which is that we all have our own list of work items creating silos and dependencies. We need to be humble enough to recognize that any solution we can create individually is worse than the solution we can get if we work together and this is why we need to collaborate.
So then, what is collaboration?
Collaboration is not just about working with other people, it is about how easy is to work with them/you. Basically, when you need something that is not covered by any process in the company, when you want information from other teams, or when you would like to have feedback about a new idea… It is in those moments that you realise how easy is to get that information or reach agreements, and how many people you can contact that are going to positively receive you. Therefore, Collaboration is a skill that you can individually have and develop and it can scale to a team or company level.
If we think carefully about the consequences of this approach, we realise that collaboration is a voluntary act and this is why there are dozens of companies with a low level of collaboration. This is a major problem because collaboration is a cultural force, it is something that really can be a game changer in an organisation but, it is really difficult to be perceived from top management positions because it has an invisible ROI.
If you are interested in collaboration and you want to go deeper into this topic, I would like to recommend you the book Mastering Collaboration by Gretchen Anderson. It has a lot of interesting and useful insights and for sure you will enjoy it.
To finalise this post, I would like to share with you a paradigmatic example of collaboration, halfway between serendipity and randomness, but based on people sharing ideas with others in a safe environment and with open minds to accept other points of view.