Sunday, September 13, 2009

I Love Collaboration

Welcome back. You belong here.

One of the things I've discovered is that I enjoy collaboration. I vividly remember a few meetings when I first noticed this.

I remember I had this "creative types" call out a few years ago. About 8-10 of us gathered in a circle around 9pm on a Sunday night, actors, painters, musicians, a fun group. Looking back on that night, what I enjoyed most was "bringing people together", collaborating, working together towards a common goal, giving everyone a voice.

The second meeting was at a friend's house with a similar invite. There was a pool, lots of food and 15-20 people. When it was time to meet and talk, I did my usual asking people for their interests, got them talking (not my strength), facilitated the conversation. At the end of the meeting, a friend who'd never seen me lead teams said to me "I didn't know you could do that!"

The other day someone noticed me "at work" and wrote a few things I do when leading collaborative teams

1. Listen
2. Ask Just the Right Questions to Keep the Ball Rolling
3. Write Ideas Down
4. Listen

Collaborating is one of my joys, something I do well. Often, I find myself doing things I do average, but collaboration and facilitating innovation, creativity, communication and team work is something I do freely.

Have a great day.

Into the future,

davidT