Lead by Example

Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age

This powerful video supplied by Edutopia is really an AHA moment for me.

Some of the most important parts to me include the fact that he relates the rules of Improv to the rules of collaboration.  Rule 1- Accept every offer.  I knew this in acting, but it makes so much sense in collaboration.  We tend to shut down ideas– we are critical by nature– rather than accept them and run with them.  Remember the alternative is deadend.  Rule 2- Make your partner look good.  Why do we have to be competitive and worry all the time who is looking better than someone else.  If we are always concerned about making our partner look good, it is win/win.

Second, I really loved the idea that collaboration is NOT a synonym for cooperation.  The illustration was that an assembly line is a series of individual tasks.  If needed, one person could walk down that line and do each task independently.  Collaboration relies on interconnectivity and amplification of other’s ideas and tasks.  I love that.

Awesome video!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: collaboration