Want Better Collaboration - Stop Asking Questions
1 Aug 2004 in Employee Relationship, Productivity, Teams by GarrickThe first step to a collaborative environment is to banish questions. Yes, banish the question mark from all conversation.
Questions reinforce heirarchial relationships rather than build the peer-to-peer relationships necessary for innovative, effective collaboration.
Step #1. Everyone is smart and everyone’s knowledge is of equal value.
A question forces someone else to make something for you.
Step #2. You can create things others find valuable.
Comments (7)
Want Better Collaboration - Improvise
The earlier collaboration techniuqes post (Stop Asking Questions) was based a key to successful improvisation.
Improvisational comedy is based on the belief that a group of individuals working together can start with nothing and make something engag…
Working Pathways, LLC - The Work Better Weblog added these pithy words on Aug 11 04 at 12:41 pm[...] written about the similarity between collaborative work and Improvisational Comedy before (Stop Asking Questions, Yes, and - not But, Want Better Collaboration Improvis [...]
Working Pathways, LLC » Once More, In Half the Time added these pithy words on Apr 28 05 at 10:47 am[...] t Better Collaboration - Improvise
The earlier collaboration techniques post (Stop Asking Questions) was based a key to successful improvisation. This pos [...]
Working Pathways, LLC » Want Better Collaboration - Improvise added these pithy words on Apr 28 05 at 10:57 am[...] meeting blah. On a related note, questions frequently have a similar effect on teams - see Stop Asking Questions. In working with different teams, I’ve heard &# [...]
The Work Better Weblog » Archive » Yes, and - not But added these pithy words on May 26 05 at 4:29 pmJim Cuene added these pithy words on Aug 04 04 at 10:15 amAre you serious? (See, I couldn’t get past the first line). I think a room full of people making declarative statements would be the first step to 100% non-collaboration. The best collaborative interactions i’ve ever been in have had some kind of a center around which the collaboration revolved, be it a speaker/leader or a central question. I’d argue that you really need some sort of hierarchy to maintain focus.
>>”A question forces someone else to make something for you”
I disagree. Nobody has to answer a question I raise.
Garrick added these pithy words on Aug 09 04 at 11:45 pmYes, a central issue is absolutely necessary for collaboration - add some urgency and a very small room. What comes out will be magic.
Too often, I see smart people relying on others to find answers nobody knows. That’s what defeats collaboration - sending someone else out to find an answer you should have been finding together.
Mark Wagner added these pithy words on Aug 10 04 at 9:35 amHmmm…not everyone is smart. This is an articulable, provable fact. Essentially, the fact-finding interrogatory is the foundation of all research. Just because people can add their unique worldview and life perspective doesn’t make them necessarily intelligent. They *might* be able to add to a collaboration because of their unique experience, but that doesn’t mean they are smart, or, more importantly, relevant.
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