What is collaboration?

Ok, but there are different levels. So, how do I know if what I say is working, you never really say one way or the other, and when I change things, it looks like it's ignored totally, so I stop. 

Example of context layering: 

                1. She walked into the room.

                2. She opened the door and listened for his sounds, his breathing, his footsteps. Nothing. She walked into the room.

                3. She put her shaking hand on the door, bruises still evident from the last time, then opened the door......

This type of writing occurs after a fast writing process, you just have to get it down, but there is still a lot missing, it is the kind of changes that happen as you get to know a character.

Other examples include looking through the whole piece for:

--consistency in message

--repetition that is unnecessary and distracting

--repetition that drives the point home

--typos

So, is collaboration when I value what you value?  The Vault, Hobart Lake, preserving your farm, keeping Palmer Lake pristine. Or is it when you value what I value? Music and music venues, art, history, the land, and anything to do with nature, but own nothing. 

Or is true collaboration when two worlds work synergistically, not necessarily overlapping but enhancing each other. To me that's the best of all worlds, no one is absorbed or disappears into the other. The latter is called WORK, a four letter word that I believe should be taken out of the equation. "Respect yourself, and others, no one else is ever paid to do that, and they shouldn't be." (my own quote)

All in the eyes of the beholder, maybe yes, maybe no, maybe taking over is not collaboration, maybe it is, maybe you've got such good ideas, mine pale, maybe they don't, maybe I just like to breath fresh air, hang out with friends and encourage them in their ultimate direction, maybe the sun shines through a cloudy day and it becomes a song or a book, maybe you've got a vision and the patience to wait, maybe not, maybe the Lord is looking over the whole darn thing and likes it all and then again....

 I can analyze the whole thing, but ultimately the idea seems like a business model idea and I am liking a more fluid model of respect of the intellect and soul that gets people interested in stuff. So, I have that for you. 

Collaboration at the conceptual level, involves:

• Awareness – We become part of a working entity with a shared purpose
• Motivation – We drive to gain consensus in problem solving or development
• Self-synchronization – We decide as individuals when things need to happen
• Participation – We participate in collaboration and we expect others to participate
• Mediation – We negotiate and we collaborate together and find a middle point
• Reciprocity – We share and we expect sharing in return through reciprocity
• Reflection – We think and we consider alternatives
• Engagement – We proactively engage rather than wait and see

 

Collaboration relies on openness and knowledge sharing but also some level of focus and accountability on the part of the business organizations. Governance should be established addressing the creation and closing of team workspaces with assignment of responsibility for capturing the emergent results of the collaborative effort.