In Defense of Collaboration

Susan Cain, in her article, “The Rise of the New Groupthink” (The New York Times Sunday Review, Sunday, January 15, 2012) advances the provocative notion that collaboration is not conducive to creativity.

I do not disagree with Cain’s well-researched argument that solitude, not group collaboration leads to innovation. To a point.

Original thinking is, of course, a solitary endeavor, but not necessarily an independent achievement. Creativity and innovation do not spring forth from a vacuum, but from a confluence of inputs based on ideas imagined, interpreted, and communicated through the thinker. More often than not in an organizational setting, the inputs are iterative responses based on the thinker’s interaction with other people or in response to a business issue—and in this regard, collaboration is an essential component to problem solving.

Think of the scene from the movie Apollo 13, in which Gene Kranz, the mission control chief, tells the assembled group of engineers and designers what the astronauts have to work with in the space capsule—duct tape, socks, etc.—then he intones, “Failure is not an option.” The engineers collaborate through a process of creative abrasion to devise a workable solution that brings the Apollo 13 crew safely back to Earth. It was a collaborative “whole brain” approach to problem solving that saved the day for the three astronauts.

Most organizations are not looking for Newtonian-like insights that lead to grand theories as Ms. Cain suggests (unless they are R&D driven). Rather, most organizations are looking for incremental improvements and innovations that are readily achieved through collaboration, and in fact, can only be achieved through a broad-based coalition of employees committed to championing the innovation.  And since the basis of collaboration is communication, the end result is not only an organizational improvement or innovation, but also a shared language that broadens the base of understanding and acceptance among participants.

Collaboration is not the problem—poor meeting design and execution are the culprits. Indeed, collaboration is often the strongest process for solving organizational problems and developing/implementing innovative solutions.

- Astrid Sheil