Collaboration is exercise; you get better at it by doing it.
principle — attributed to Brian Solis
Solis cites Muhammad Ali. I don't like working out, but I visualize what being a champion looks and feels like. Solis applies the same to collaboration. It is a form of exercise, done in a way that visualizes the shared desired outcome. The reframe matters because most professionals treat collaboration as a personality trait. Solis treats it as a practice. People who do not enjoy collaboration get better at it by visualizing what successful collaboration produces, not by waiting until they feel like collaborating. The discipline applies to introverts, to leaders who default to solo work, and to teams that have been operating in parallel rather than together. Practice produces capability that natural inclination cannot.
For team leaders, executive coaches, and HR leaders thinking about how to build collaboration capability. The principle is most useful as a frame against the assumption that collaboration ability is fixed.
practice, muhammad-ali, visualization, shared-outcome