Interdisciplinary collaboration moves our increasingly complex world forward. And, unsurprisingly, taking part in this progress requires you to be an excellent collaborator. 

Becoming highly “collaboratable” was our mission over the past week. 

The checklist

1. Establish “win-win more” relationships.
   • When gathering collaborators for your initiative, try to ensure that they get more from the deal than you. 
   • This strategy can bring massive compounding gains over the span of a career. 
2. Ensure that you collaborate effectively. 
   • Be open to feedback – both the constructive and destructive kinds. 
   • Make sure your communication is crystal clear. Misunderstandings happen all too easily. 
3. Take pride in being the dumbest person in the room. 
   • Learn from experts by offering to do all the work in return for their guidance. 
   • Get a mentor team, either by reading works from best-selling non-fiction authors or by getting real-life mentors. 
4. Find your networking style.
   • If you’re a natural networker, you could make a career out of bringing the right people together. 
   • If not, rather build close relationships with one or two natural networkers and focus more on online networking. 

It’s not unusual to spend most of your relationship time with professional instead of personal contacts. Make the best of this time and, together, you can make the world a better place 🙂