Working With Others

Part of collaborative literacy is understanding when it is worthwhile to work with others. Some mechanisms of collaboration do not take time - for example, an unlimited amount of people could in priciple contribute to the wiki according to well-defined collaboration guidelines. When working with others at OSE, one must ask how the work contributes to the OSE Vision, and how it contributes to various missions. However, when it takes time for working directly with indidividuals, one's time must be kept in mind. Therefore, choosing not to work with others is as important as working with others. Here are guidelines for why you may not want to work with others.

• First, see the OSE Asshole Policy, and read literature on the topic. Thus, we do not fall the trap of working with elite performers who are assholes, as this can bring down the organization if the person does not share values of collaboration, empowerment, transparency, sharing, humility, empathy, listening. 4 items are key: collaboration, communication (advocate), active listening, and empathy. If do these 4, will succeed. Otherwise, almost certainly unsuccessful.
• What value does the person add to the project?
• Is the relationship one which provides mutual value, or win-win for both parties - or is there only one customer in the relationship?
• But perhaps the most rigorous one is - Are you inspired by the relationship - or is it one of your chores? If you are not inspired, you may want to question why you are engaged in that relationship. Is there a better relationship that you can substitute? Is the lack of inspiration perhaps a sign that you are not on the right track? What is the benefit of the relationship and what is the cost - and which is greater? Get as clear about this ratio as possible, when filtered through your mission, priorities, rollout, avaiable resources, culture, tactics, strategy, etc. Can you quantify this ratio, even roughly? What is your threshold for this ratio when choosing to work with someone or not? All in all, how clear are you about working with someone or not?