Chapter 12. Conclusion

Becoming a master of collaboration is a journey worth undertaking, and I hope that by now you’ve seen some ways that you can bring people together to do great things. If you face enormous challenges or risky, intimidating situations, there’s no better tool to have at your disposal than a great group of people willing to tackle them with you.

In this book, I’ve made the case for collaboration as the approach to solving problems that are complex and confusing. The saying at the beginning of this book, “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together,” speaks to the support that we give each other when we work well together. I’ve shown how it can help your professional endeavors, whether you are creating innovative products, saving lives in the ER, or reinventing how your organization works. But collaborations shouldn’t be thought of only in our professional lives.

Jim Kalbach, author of Mapping Experiences (O’Reilly), shared a story about a collaboration he was part of in 2017. Kalbach was approached by Hedaya, an organization dedicated to countering violent extremism, to lead a collaboration to understand the journeys of former extremists who had left their pasts, and see how their experiences could be leveraged to reach others like them. He flew to Dubai and met a diverse group of people, including former gang members, Islamic extremists, neo-Nazis (“formers”), as well as the US State Department and NGOs, over several days of collaboration where formers explained aspects of their lives that were previously invisible to their partners. By holding a safe space where all were respected, the group began to understand what turns people away from violence, and how their identities suffered once they were on the outside. After spending a lifetime understanding themselves in opposition to an “other,” formers faced depression and isolation that made it tempting to return. In the end the group came up with actionable steps that they could take to recruit, support, and train formers to become agents of change to reach more violent extremists and change their perspectives. “I don’t know how else that diverse a group could have gotten together except at the UN,” said Kalbach, “and that setting is where people just speak to each other about this topic, as they had in the past.” Collaboration enabled them to have a space where emotions could be allowed into the discussion, where people could trust one another and listen to one another’s perspectives, and where they could ultimately develop new ways of thinking about a vital problem we all face.

Throughout my career, my greatest accomplishments and most enjoyable experiences have happened while working closely with people very different from myself. I’ve learned to be humble, and to make what I think are brilliant ideas into solutions that actually work. I’ve learned to see the world differently through clashes in perspectives. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, and most importantly, I’ve made lasting relationships with people of all kinds, who continue to be sounding boards and inspirations in my life and work.

It is my sincere hope that by employing some of the approaches I’ve gathered here, based on a wide range of experiences, you too can take the experience of working together from “It’s Complicated” to something that gives you enjoyable, lasting relationships.