Rules of the games

Another problem with the collaboration in the workplace is that often there aren't explicit rules of the games. Let me explain that with a little analogy.

Storytime

When it comes to bringing people together, for example for a meeting I often feel that it's as if it was some kind of very weird play date. 

Some of the participants come and want to play monopoly. Other come and want to play football. So, what happens? In the middle of the session, somebody gets pissed because a guy is shooting in the little monopoly figures. Another person is pissed as there are too many tiny balls to play real football. It just doesn't work for anybody.

Too many rules and ways of working

Everybody comes to the collaborative session with his own agenda, his own way to make work happen. But nobody takes a minute to be sure that others are aligned with this.

Kids define rules and roles

I'm always amazed to see that kids are better at alignment than adults. Before they start playing you'll often hear one of the kids say: "Let's play this game". Then another kind says "Okay then I'll be the policeman". Humbling right?