Collaborative Habits - Life Lessons for Working Together

Over the weekend, I had a chance to pick up Twyla Tharp's Collaborative Habit after reading the book jacket and hearing about her on NPR. The book was an easy read and had some interesting aspects. A good collaborator is easier to find than a good friend. If you've got a true friendship, you want to protect that; To work together is to risk it. Like Creativity, collaboration is a habit and one that takes practice and effort to master.

Despite not being into theater, I found some of her examples and references pretty generic in nature and generally applicable for all walks of life where collaboration is key.

Here are some aspects that I plan to practice for a long time:

• In business, "crowdsourcing" - assigning a task that used to be done by a single worker to whole communities - has become a powerful tool in product development process
• Collaboration may be a practice - a way of working in harmony with others - but it begins with a point of view. 
• If you want a successful first meeting, preparation pays. Get everything on your side before you say hello.
• In any collaboration, sub-ordinates & peers are as valuable as you allow them to be. Treat team members with respect and you will gain valuable collaboration
• Collaboration doesn't flourish if people decide to get together "whenever". It's remarkably effective, however when partners set a schedule and establish a routine - when working together becomes a habit. The sooner you establish a routine, the more smoothly your collaboration will advance.
• You need a challenging partner. In a good collaboration, differences between partners mean that one plus one will equal more than two.
• Despite the warmest, most precise email is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting
• Getting involved with your collaborator's problems almost always distracts you from your own. This can be tempting. That can be relief. But it usually leads to a disaster
• Any ceremonial event at the completion of a collaboration - is not about one individual. It's the celebration of a group endeavor. And that means, if you're the team leader, you want to make sure everyone on the team gets acknowledged.
• Unless their survival is at stake, institutions resist change and defend the status quo. Outsides are free agents. With less to defend, they're prone to challenge things as they are.
• Collaboration can be internal - an act of listening to others and then having a silent, private conversation with yourself.
• All artists ( or for that matter any professional) have "signature". Most of them guard closely. Again and again, the really smart and talented people don't hoard the "secrets" of their success - they share them.Excellence is more about so much more than craft.

And finally, what do you do when the world doesn't validate your vision?  - I love Twyla's description of the stages of healing and rebirth because I've gone through those myself during startup years and many other occassions

1. Start by mourning - Twyla suggests a fortnight but in real life you should be able pick yourself up and be back on track with a day or two.
2. We're still here, a little engaged, now looking up and a little optimistic and finally feeling the physical energy return
3. A new idea or concept is in play - what do I need to get this done and how do I build the right skills/tools
4. Yes, me Yes - I'm back in full swing
5. And finally, one last confrontation with oneself, this one internal. Am I eager to attack take this challenge on, Or am I losing my edge, or fooling myself with a rehash of old themes? Because, if that's the reality, is it a setup for another disappointment

All in all, the book is a great read and emphasizes the work habits that lead to success.