“Collaboration is hard. You might think that schools teach people how to collaborate, but I think somehow the opposite lesson is being learned.”
I agree with you. Having worked in both small entrepreneurial businesses and large corporations, one of the most powerful things about a well managed small business is the team spirit and flexibility to get things done on a moment’s notice. Priorities can shift due to the demands of the marketplace and a small business, at the direction of the leader, can shift focus to capitalize immediately on opportunity or respond to a customer problem. Large businesses, with many layers of management and job description defined limits on freedom of action have a much more difficult time making decisions and responding, even when a shift is mandated from the top.
As you described, collaboration is hard, even without the politics and rules of a large organization. Leaders of big companies talk about the need for collaboration, flexibility, and entrepreneurship but they rarely invest in training employees how to collaborate. Collaboration requires a high level of trust and if the corporate culture does not inspire trust, employees will not collaborate. Certainly the Steve Ballmer and Jack Welch forced ranking performance systems does not work well with teams whose total output can be measured but the individual contribution to the team effort is difficult to discern objectively.
“one of the most powerful things about a well managed small business is the team spirit and flexibility to get things done on a moment’s notice. Priorities can shift due to the demands of the marketplace”.
So true. I only have three employees, but they flex and pivot to keep the products moving to the customers at a moments notice. We do online, store direct and wholesalers and each week is a new challenge because they are never the same. All three are women and work together amazingly. I’d be lost without them.
I’m old-fashioned. I think collaboration is best taught on playing fields and other non-academic venues. It’s actually a dangerous crutch when thinking itself is the lesson.