Establish your roots
Together we can do more. That’s what makes life at the coLab meaningful—our members are doing their best work yet by thinking, creating, and innovating together in a supportive environment.
What does community mean to us?
With over 100 different definitions, we feel simplicity is key here:
it’s about the people.
We prioritize the human connections that form naturally in a collaborative environment.
Our community of professionals are supported by one another.
Our Values
I wouldn’t ever encourage somebody to replicate coLab, nor do I think it’s really replicate-able.
Instead, I urge people to learn from the lessons we’ve learned, share some of our ideas, but interpret them to fit their community.
I personally think that the coolest thing is that communities, like the people in them, have personality. Squelching that personality is a waste – instead, we embrace it.
People like to throw around the term “knowledge economy”. But in truth?
We live in the creativity economy. Because while your knowledge is what gets you into your industry, your creativity is what determines how far you go.
Creativity as a Function of Community
Creativity is what happens when our existing knowledge bumps up against some kind of new, unexpected input. Which means in order for creativity to happen, you need some kind of an outside catalyst to spark it. That catalyst can be an image, a phrase, a fact, an event, or a person. But no matter what the catalyst is, you won’t find it if you just hide yourself away from the world forever.
Creativity requires community. At coLab, we’ve built a community of like-minded people who are open to new ideas, open to learning, and open to creativity. We’re all about coming up with new ways to do things. We’re all about challenging the status quo. We encourage our members to do the same. And we love it when our members can be creative together. Which leads us to our next core value…
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.
coLab is all about aligning with your core purpose, your why, AND taking action to get stuff done.
Purposefulness is being aware that each of us is here for a reason. We value our lives by discovering the part we are uniquely meant to play. We discern our intention and focus on it mindfully. We visualize it happening. We set goals and achieve them step by step, resisting distractions. We give each task single minded concentration and excellence. We invest our full enthusiasm into even the simplest job. In the flow of our lives, there are many turns and unexpected events. Within it all, there are lessons to be learned and gifts to receive.
Purposefulness is trusting the journey.
Arête The Greeks had a word – Arête – which translates into “virtues”.
Virtues are patterns in how we behave – habits, choices, interactions, etc.
But virtues don’t automatically result in “the good life.”
The good life is a byproduct of practicing Arête every day.
Practicing Arête requires a transformation in perspective:
- From vision to ambition.
- From mission to intention.
- From strategy to constraints.
- From objectives to imperatives.
Eudaimonia
The Greeks had a word – eudaimonia – which translates to “the good life”.
More specifically, they described the good life as:
“…rich with relationships, ideas, emotion, health and vigor, recognition and contribution, passion and fulfillment, and great accomplishment and enduring achievement.”
At coLab, we’ve worked hard to ensure that we’re not just any old office. Our members value and look forward to the many opportunities for fun that exist in the space, whether that fun is organized or spontaneous.
Celebrating and having fun at work is an essential function for building a positive workplace culture, helping our members blow off steam, and fostering new ideas. Plus, it’s just plain fun, and life is too short to work in an environment that makes you miserable.
The coLab admin team loves providing opportunities for our members to have to express joyfully at work. While we won’t force you to participate in our initiatives, we do make it a priority to ensure everyone is having an enjoyable time.
One caveat about fun: We value organic fun. Fun looks different for everyone, and it isn’t fun when it’s forced. That’s why we love getting our members involved in fun every step of the way, so they can dictate the kind of fun that happens. We won’t force you to get involved, but we will give you opportunities to have fun with the people around you.
Whether it’s a lunchtime game of foosball, a Crafternoon Brews meetup, or just some casual office banter, at coLab, having fun is every bit as much a priority as getting work done is.