Three Keys To Mastering The Power Of Collaboration

I’ve discovered that when entrepreneurs become emotionally engaged with a big new possibility or idea, they’ll often find themselves procrastinating on achieving it.

This is because they begin by asking the wrong question.

The right question and the wrong question.

What I’ve typically found is that entrepreneurs will get excited by a new idea, realize it’s something they want to do, and immediately ask, “How do I do it?”

But “how?” isn’t what you should be asking. Because what you’re picturing is a bigger and better result than you have right now, you don’t yet have the capability to achieve it. Therefore, asking “how?” at this point will only take you into areas of complexity.

So instead of asking “how?” ask yourself “who?”

Instead of thinking, “I have to achieve this,” think, “We have to achieve this.”

This will immediately move you toward recognizing that you probably already have some of the capability that’s necessary to achieve the goal and toward identifying which of the other necessary capabilities belong to others on your team.

By bypassing “how?” you’re going to identify the “who’s” in your company that are going to be part of the team that’s going to achieve this new result.

Alternatively, there might be existing capabilities out in the world that already produce this kind of result — organizations or individuals — and you can reach out to them to make it happen. Using the power of collaboration can be that simple.

You won’t get bogged down with complexity if you approach new projects and ideas in this way: You commit to the result, you look at all the resources available to you, you make a plan to involve the right people, and you’re off and running.

As the entrepreneur, your role is to establish your vision as a project, and then other people’s capabilities can achieve it.

The elements of successful collaboration.

To execute on any new idea, harnessing the power of collaboration, there are three things to take into consideration:

1. Be clear about your own capabilities. Don’t commit to doing things that aren’t in your wheelhouse.
2. Consider the capability profiles of everybody in your organization in order to create the right teamwork for the project.
3. Access abilities outside of your organization. When you use the power of collaboration in this way, the marketplace allows you to achieve things far beyond your present capabilities.

When you begin any new project by asking “who?” instead of “how?” it saves you from procrastination, saves you from complexity, and saves everyone from having to work outside of their areas of expertise.

By engaging in teamwork and utilizing the power of collaboration, you can make the most of your great ideas.

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I hope this article triggered some new ideas, projects, initiatives, and thinking for you and your business.

Thanks for reading,

Dan

Make sure to check out more of my latest articles because little things keep becoming bigger and better when you think about them in new and different ways.

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