Craig T. Owens

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Greg and I promise we aren’t here to nitpick your grammar, but in some instances understanding the full meaning of words can help us to realize how they are affecting our patterns of thinking. In today’s episode we are discussing cooperation and collaboration—two words that are often used interchangeably. However, a deeper examination reveals that their differences can be the deciding factor between a surviving team and a thriving team.

• [0:00] Introduction
• [0:49] Not to nitpick on the definitions, but we need to make sure we understand the words “cooperate” and “collaborate.”
• [2:03] Let’s start with cooperation—how do leaders get their teams to cooperate together?
• [3:33] In our Business by the Book book for CEOs, we talk about a trailblazer in the Old West who sets a good example for us in how to get people to begin cooperating.
• [7:13] Assumptions will kill cooperation before it even gets started.
• [9:33] Stephen Covey has good insight for us in his book The 8th Habit that servant leaders can leverage for success.
• [12:13] Collaboration is harder work, which will require more patience from the leader to allow the rest of the team to build their endurance for it.
• [13:48] Teammates will have to wrestle with sacrifice and risk in order to allow the whole time to move forward.
• [16:07] A strategy that Greg has employed successfully to help teammates move from cooperation to collaboration.
• [18:02] The value of ideation in collaborative meetings is so much higher than sticking to the agenda of a cooperative meeting.
• [19:27] We like the tension of the difficulty of collaboration.
• [20:42] Moving from cooperation to collaboration will require legitimate humility on the part of the leader.
• [23:08] An outstanding quote from John Maxwell’s book Teamwork 101.
• [23:48] If you are wondering if your leadership might be stifling the move from cooperation to collaboration, please consider calling in Maximize Leadership as a business coach.