For years I’ve heard people and companies talk about the importance and power of collaboration.
And so they should, because when it’s done right, it can be amazingly beneficial … except in my experience, the amount of people and companies who are doing it right is smaller than Ronnie Corbett’s midget twin brother.
[I know many of you won’t know who Ronnie Corbett is, but you’ll just have to accept he is an appropriate metaphor]
What do I mean?
Well there seems to be this attitude that collaboration simply means having people from 2 or more different companies, in the same meeting, working on the same problem.
Now on first impression, that might sound like the perfect example of collaboration, however unless the companies present have an appreciation of what the others can bring to the table – and openly and willingly invite that to happen – its nothing more than a room crammed with a bunch of people.
Too often I’ve seen what has been deemed as collaboration turn into nothing more than a war of pettiness – with companies either [1] trying to fuck over every other company present in the meeting or [2] waiting for one agency to stop talking so they can say whatever they want to rant about, which more often than not, either has sly digs at the other agencies present or nothing to do with what has just been said.
There are many reasons for this – from financial to ego – which is why true collaboration can only occur when the people in involved appreciate a broader spectrum of disciplines than just their own.
In short, only when they know what they can’t do can the whole process move forward with the potential it can offer which is why agencies have an obligation to their staff to teach them breadth as well as depth and clients need to appreciate in the dog-eat-dog environment they’ve actively created, they’re not going to get the best results until they treat all their partners with the respect, openness and remuneration they deserve.