Real Collaboration Begins When You Stop Thinking About Yourself "-)
Collaboration is everywhere on LinkedIn – but why is it still so hard?
📌 Every organization claims it’s a core value.
📌 Every leader says it’s the key to success.
📌 Every department wants to work better with others.
Yet, collaboration keeps failing.
If everyone agrees it’s important, why is it still one of the biggest struggles in organizations?
Maybe we’re missing something fundamental.
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Collaboration Isn’t Natural – It’s Built
We like to think humans are wired for collaboration, that it’s in our DNA. But in reality, it’s more complicated.
✔️ Yes, humans survived because they worked together – but it was always out of necessity, not natural inclination.
✔️ Competition and ego have always been there – history shows that the biggest collaborations only happened when there was a strong enough need to overcome personal interests.
✔️ The ‘group work’ effect – studies show that people in teams often do less work unless they feel a strong personal commitment (a phenomenon known as social loafing).
📢 The takeaway?
Collaboration doesn’t happen on its own.
It’s not "natural" – it’s something that must be consciously built and nurtured.
And the key to building it?
It’s not about what you take – it’s about what you give.
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So What Actually Makes Collaboration Work?
Most people approach collaboration with one question in mind:
✔️ How will this benefit me?
✔️ How can I get credit for my contributions?
✔️ How do I avoid being the one who gets stuck doing all the work?
📢 And that’s exactly the problem.
When collaboration starts from self-interest, it falls apart fast.
Real collaboration only happens when people show up to give, not just to take.
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The Hidden Truth: Collaboration Is a System of Giving
✔️ When you genuinely want to help someone, they feel it.
✔️ When you lift others up, they want to lift you up in return.
✔️ When you stop focusing on what’s in it for you, the energy shifts – and real collaboration begins.
📢 The "aha!" moment:
Most collaborations fail not because of misaligned goals, but because each side is too focused on themselves.
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How to Turn This Into an Actionable Tool?
Want to know if collaboration in your organization is real or just for show? Ask yourself:
✔️ What’s the first question people ask when entering a collaboration?
✔️ Is it "How can I help?" or "Who gets the credit?"
✔️ Are they genuinely there to give, or are they just trying to make sure they don’t get the short end of the stick?
📢 Honest moment: If the answers lean toward the second set, your collaboration culture needs work.
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Final Thought – Collaboration Isn’t a Value, It’s a Result
Everyone says collaboration is important, but very few understand how to make it actually work.
Real collaboration isn’t created by declarations or values written on a wall.
It’s built through genuine giving – when people stop focusing on their own gain and truly want the other side to succeed.
📢 Here’s a small challenge:
At your next meeting, instead of thinking, “What do I need from them?”, ask yourself:
“How can I help them succeed?”
🔹 Try it – and watch how the dynamic changes.