There’s a scene in the movie Ghostbusters where the team is using their proton packs in order to capture a negatively charged ectoplasmic entity in the Museum of Natural History. While they are frantically trying to capture the ghost, Egon tells them not to cross their energy streams because “it would be bad.”
Venkman: I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, “bad”?
Egon: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Venkman: Right. That’s bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.
As I’m sure you’ve experienced, there are times in the workplace when different teams working on similar projects seem to be at cross purposes, and those situations can occasionally get rather tense. Why is that? Well, it’s human nature.
In order to be successful collaborators, people have to change some of their natural tendencies and learned behaviors, and use other skills more effectively. In particular an individual’s competitive nature must evolve in order for him to participate effectively in group engagements. This isn’t always easy.
Think about, for example, how hard it is for a young sports superstar to learn to trust and enable his or her teammates in order for them to rise to the next level as a team. In many cases just collaborating in small teams can pose a challenge for highly competitive people. But it is just that competitive spirit that provides the drive for excellence, so rather than eliminating it we should instead seek to refocus it.
That is why it is so important in business to keep the ultimate purpose and strategy visible. If the group members lose track of their objectives for any reason, the resulting void can allow the team’s collaborative quotient to fall. The leader, therefore, is ultimately charged with keeping the team focused and engaged on the objective so that they remain at peak performance.
Later in Ghostbusters, the team is chasing a particularly large and nasty threat. When they have difficulty capturing the monster using conventional methods, Egon recommends they change the rules:
Egon: I have a radical idea… We’ll cross the streams.
Venkman: ‘Scuse me Egon? You said crossing the streams was bad! You’re gonna endanger us, you’re gonna endanger our client…
Egon: Not necessarily. There’s definitely a *very slim* chance we’ll survive.
Venkman: [pause] I love this plan! I’m excited it could work! LET’S DO IT!
Collaboration has such potential for reshaping business that even fierce market competitors are having to modify their behavior in order to grow. A study I worked on a couple of years ago found that while competitors in the IT solutions space were reluctant to collaborate because it was difficult, both operationally and culturally, their customers increasingly expect them to offer more complete solutions. In light of this, some of the companies decided to change the rules they operated by.
Those competitors that set aside their reservations and worked together with competitors on specific projects realised higher overall revenues and greater customer loyalty than those who did not.
While it is important to include reasonable structure in your organisation in order to keep things moving, don’t get so caught up in the process itself that you fail to evolve.
So what can we learn about collaboration from the movie Ghostbusters?
- Different teams working on the same project can create tension, but focusing on results is the key to success.
- If the situation you are in changes, don’t be afraid to revise the rules.
- Crossing the beams probably won’t destroy the universe.
Have you been in a situation where your group and another clashed? How did it go? What did you learn? We want to hear about your experience, unless of course you destroyed the universe…
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