When the going gets tough – The smart get collaborating

It’s a natural response when things are a bit tough and we feel embattled – pull down the hatches, protect your patch and wait out the storm.

But here’s the rub – there’s always another storm. And these days they keep coming faster and more frequently than ever.

I’ve noticed another pattern. When the going gets tough, the smart get…collaborating.

The tough don’t go it alone. The smart ones go together.

• They share ideas, resources and back each other up.
• They keep investing in the innocuous things that make a huge difference – like making time to connect.
• Together they prioritise the big things that matter to them all.
• They find ways to make them happen with what they collectively have or can access.
• They don’t defer to future generations – be they organisational or societal – the responsibilities of today.

Stanford University noticed it too. They found when people collaborate they have greater stickability in the face of adversity.

Compared with people working alone, those collaborating with others persist with challenges up to 64% longer, report greater interest in the work, perform better and become less tired.

The findings are no surprise. History is littered with examples of collaborative efforts that have profoundly impacted us all. Examples like the Apollo Program which led to the development of satellite technology which enables our global communication networks and GPS.  The Human Genome Project which paved the way for treatments tailored to individual genetic makeup. And more recently, the development of the Covid19 vaccine where researchers from various countries shared information about the virus, its transmission and genetic makeup accelerating understanding of the virus and its potential.

Without exception, solving the tough stuff, the wicked, gnarly problems that cause the best to scratch their heads and wonder How on earth? is best achieved through collaboration.

In collaboration the mindset of scarcity is replaced with one of abundance, belief replaces despair and action replaces stagnation.

And you don’t need to be launching a rocket or cracking a scientific conundrum for it to make sense. Some of the toughest challenges are hiding in plain sight as everyday issues like:

• How to keep the lights on when the budget’s been cut?
• How to “do more with less”?
• How to respond when projects critical to achieving long term strategic goals are shelved in the face of short-term thinking?

When you share an ambition, create a new ‘us’ (rather than reinforce the old ‘us’ and ‘them’) and find alignment around the matters that matter, the impossible becomes….possible. 

Will you be one who steps up? Will you reject the same old thinking and work with, rather than in isolation from, others? Will you lend your support, share your ideas and offer resources to get to the other side of the storm? Or will you hold back?

I see first-hand, every day, the difference collaboration makes. The potential it releases, the new opportunities it creates and the strength in the connections it builds.

If you invest in nothing else right now, invest in effective collaboration.

Invest in finding ways to share resources, ideas and in supporting each other. The investment, compared to the payoff, is tiny.

So, stop shrinking, thinking smaller and shutting down. Start collaborating.