Spotting the moments for collaboration, then showing up for them. That’s it. How do I do it? How do you do it? And, how can we do it more often. How do we not get fooled by certain aspects of the situation – you’re an exec, I’m not, you’re homeless, I’m not, you’re shouting and angry, I’m not, you’re checked out, I’m not.

I’m going to a collaboration get-together on Friday, May 11. Me and 5 other esteemed colleagues, talking about where we are and what we might do together. These things can go either way – dropping down into wonderful connections that last a lifetime, or just another coulda, shoulda, woulda. The difference? A choice between anxiety leading to defendedness or vulnerablilty leading to trust and connection. I came out swinging and invited us all to bring something – object, childhood picture, poem, quote – that will do some of the revealing for us. I don’t want to be vulnerable – ever.  But I do want connection and trust.  Figured this was the only way to make sure I showed up.

Am looking for new office space and hearing many lies. I have to assume this is way real estate works. You know, “cozy” means cramped, “contractor’s dream” means owner’s nightmare,  and “$1.50/sq. foot” means “unless we think we can get more, in which case the price goes up steeply and arbitrarily.” If they worked on their timing and delivery, they could be headlining in Vegas. Certainly I laugh – what else can you do? And,  as a commercial renter, you don’t have the rights residential renters do.  So, it’s all about what you can negotiate, which requires a trip to the collaboration zone. Wish me luck.

There are a couple of my collaboration stories-in-progress. I’ll report back as they develop, or fail to. I want to learn from…everything. That means your stories too. How about it?

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 2:39 pm and is filed under authenticity, collaboration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.