Collaboration-a whole new way of working

I have been working on so many new projects and talking to so many different these days but one this has really been on my mind, this notion and practice of working in collaboration.

Collaboration seems to be new to the world of work and is slowly creeping around and popping up everywhere. It also seems to be tagging along with this other scary thing for some people, open source.

2011, at least for me, is quickly becoming the age of openness, sharing, and with that I have experienced growth.

I too was once a bit skeptical about collaboration, it is harder to do because everyone has to talk, everyone has to agree (sorta), I have to share my profits, it slows me down sometimes, I am giving away all (or at least most) of my "best kept secrets". Hmm...to a degree some of this is true but for the most part that seems to all be bullshit.

I don't have any best kept secrets-any material I am delivering or writing or working on (along with just about every other consultant or coach or whatever we want to call ourselves) has been sparked from somewhere or someone else, so technically in a way I've been "collaborating" for years. All this extra time an energy I'm "wasting" is really some of the most productive time I have spent working on anything in years. It is valuable because when I work with others I get challenged to really think about the reasons why I'm doing things the way I am, and often come up with better solutions. Sharing profits can be a lot more fun when you collaborate because now you are not out there promoting and working on your own-you have a partner (or a few) and you get to use each others contacts. Your market size really begins to grow if you collaborate with the right people.

So in the end I guess collaborating can have it's upsides for sure and that is what I am finding out as for the last few months I have had the chance to work with some really amazing people.

Hmm...maybe that is the real key to collaborating-just do it with the right people and you will be fine.

The next few posts I write will be about some of the cool collaborations that I have been working on will introduce you to a few of  the people I am beginning to meet in the Ottawa area.

Happy collaborating!