Collaboration – Proceed with caution…
Mark says, « Proceed with caution » when it comes to collaboration.
POSITIVE:
I believe it is essential to “collaborate” with those ultimately responsible for creating and administering a system. Creativity is stifled if people are treated like robots with no “ownership” of the systems with which they are assigned. I have a pet peeve of working with people who don’t think and are just happy to do “tasks” without considering the best way to achieve them.
NEGATIVE:
HOWEVER, I agree with you, we must be careful how much emphasis is placed on an individual’s opinions. There’s an old proverb “treat a servant like a son and he will expect the rights of a son”. One could say it this way, “treat a team member as a managing decision maker, and he will expect to be the manager”. An animal with more than one head is a monster, and we must keep things in perspective…ideas and opinions should be heard and considered, but not with the goal being to please everyone. It is rare that everyone is totally happy with every decision, and a manager that doesn’t “lead” is just a puppet.
The best managers I have worked with, gave mutual respect to their teams, but were strong to enforce executive decisions when conflicts arose from within. It’s OK to sympathies, but destructive if that turns to seeking being “liked” by the team.
Editor:
I agree with Mark in many ways. If we replace collaboration with consensus I find the ability to make decisions to be much more difficult, and not worth the time it takes. The more participants you have involved, the less likely consensus is possible.
Collaboration is not intended to replace authority or responsibility. It is intended to foster the exploration of options, expanding the problem beyond the skill and understanding of a single individual.
Thanks for the great input, Mark.
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Cheers,
Ben
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