I’ve always been a collaborative person and aim to carry that through my work too, but something changes you when you’ve been in situations where you’ve had work grabbed of your plate or seen people go behind your back to secure future contracts.
You stop being naive about the realities of the business world. You still believe in collaboration. You still understand its value. But you also learn not to ignore signals or assume everyone is operating from the same place.
That’s the conversation I’ve been having with many people recently who are interested in testing more collaborative approaches.
Because although we like to have the vision of a world where everyone works in harmony for a common purpose, the reality is we are operating in a capitalist society. And especially when there are limited resources - budgets get tight - tensions can emerge.
I've experienced it many times myself. People I believed I was working alongside as collaborators turned out to be competitors. Agencies I once admired reverted to the same old tactics. I'd hoped we were moving beyond these behaviours, but as we know, often they're less about individual character and more a result of the systems we’re operating within.
For the self-employed, getting a project isn't simply about passion or purpose — it's income. It's livelihood — pressure which is not so heavily felt when you’re in a permanent salaried role.
I also find it interesting that many of the organisations advocating for collaboration aren't necessarily doing it themselves. Marketers are expected to work together, while other types of roles - not so much.
My view is that we can be aspirational about collaboration while being realistic about where we are today. It’s reminiscent of the Three Horizons framework. We can experiment with new ways of working while recognising the conditions of the current system.
Part of that means putting ourselves in other people's shoes and understanding why they may be cautious about collaborating with certain parties.
If you're keen to test a collaborative approach, I'd recommend:
When you think about it, these principles aren't radical — they're largely the same expectations we'd apply to any organisational hiring process.
I’m looking forward to working together more with people who can acknowledge the realities of our current system while still striving to create something better.
📌 This was Issue 41 of The Forward — our regular communication for conscious-minded business leaders.
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