I like to remember this post about collaboration from Derek Neighbors of Gangplank:
“You can’t do collaboration, you have to be a collaborator.”
I find this idea poignant for a number of reasons – not the least of which is that it fits my own mental model for coworking so well. Coworking works because it throws away so many of the bad habits we’ve learned and puts the focus back on the people again.
Collaboration isn’t something you do.
Collaboration is the byproduct of being a better collaborator.
Trust and High Contact
We talk a lot about trust. coLab allows for there to be a focus on the formation of trust and deeper relationships between people, because office politics, hierarchies, and succession planning are removed from the equation.
Going one step further, we create opportunities for people to interact in a “high contact”
environment. The serendipitous nature of our clubhouse means that people are often spending far more face time with each other than in an office where people only interact when they need to.
Learning by Example
coLab is a great place to learn how to be a better collaborator.
We believe that our members are collaborators, not customers. Members who work together – not just with each other but with the community and space itself – tend to have build deepest bonds with the community.
Learning to Ride a Bike
Here’s a parable:
Do you remember learning to ride a bike? Can you imagine learning to ride a bike alone?
It’s a painful series of trials and errors. While you might’ve watched somebody else do it, you’re likely to fall and scrape your knee on your first try.
Teaching somebody to ride a bike, however, requires them to be a good collaborator more than it requires them to be a good teacher. They need to guide you, support you, and help you find your own “balance”. It requires that the new rider trusts their instructor/collaborator, and spend a fair amount of time together.
The collaborators that work with, in and from coLab are very similar. Good collaborators earn trust first. They spend a lot of face time together with their peers. They don’t instruct, but instead guide, support, and help you find your own way.
In the best collaborator relationships, it’s a two way street – each person has the ability to provide that experience for the other at some point in their time together.
coLab provides one of the best natural environments for this to happen.
Community Tip: Learn the difference between “trust” and “authority”
Want to be an awesome collaborator? Read this excellent guide on how to be a kickass community member for tips on building trust.