I do believe we have a choice in this world between open and
closed societies. Do we want the closure
that comes from believing we are right and others are wrong, from absolute
loyalty to our tribe to the exclusion of all others, from fighting for our
version of the truth? Or do we want the
openness of respecting others’ points of view, of believing that we are all
human beings deserving of dignity and freedom?
If we over-index on our tribe and what it stands for we risk losing
connection with other people who happen to be in another tribe, and this would
be a tragedy.
Collaboration begins with accepting people for what they
are, accepting that we will need to make some compromises, knowing that not
everyone is going to agree with our particular doctrine of what’s right and
wrong. Collaboration happens when we
choose to work with other people without judging them. Judgement belongs in the
closed box. Collaboration in the open
box. Through collaboration we can work on solving problems like world hunger
and making our workplace a more effective place to operate. It speeds things
up, creates shared ways of working, new ideas and better execution of them. But it all starts with whether we want to be
influenced, whether we are open or closed.
If we accept influence from others we have the potential to collaborate,
to take part in achieving shared outcomes.
It’s worth the risk.