I believe that we gain more by sharing more. By actively sharing insights and perspectives we can collectively create greater values than sum of its parts. Collaboration is not a zero sum game. It is one of the reasons why I decided to update my blog every day.
More than ever we need people who can collaborate with each other. Collaboration takes experience and skills. It's not a process that rewards single star player. In order for collaboration to work smoothly, participants must have experiences working with others and putting collective goals ahead of individual agenda. To operate effectively in that environment it takes skills to navigate around politics and foster constructive communications.
Often it is enough to have a couple of experienced individuals out of team of several to make the collaboration work effectively. The leader must be the person who believes in the collaborative process and has experiences managing the collaborative discussion. Without the committed and experienced leader I've seen many collaboration fizzling out without synthesizing a new idea and how-to steps. Collaboration is an obstacle course where individual team member can either become hindrance or aid. It's the lead and experienced team member's job to spot these signs early on and navigate around them.
