Collaborate!…A MANIFESTO

1. To be clear, I am writing on my own, as an individual, to direct the reader

on how to effectively collaborate with other people or organizations.

There will be no collaboration in the writing of this Manifesto.

2. I am not collaborating with anyone on the writing of this Manifesto, for

several reasons.

2.1. I have a strict time frame.

2.2. Collaboration is tiring.

2.3. It’s the end of the summer.

2.4. It’s hot.

2.5. I simply do not have the time to endlessly discuss this issue with

another person or group of people, (see 2.1)

2.6. I am not a Quaker.i

3. Collaborate comes from the Latin, com-, meaning "with", and labore,

"to work", so literally means “to work with”.

4. It took the place of an Old English word, efenwyrkan, which means the

same thing, but sounds Elvish.

5. Notice I said “effectively” collaborate. That was intentional. Ineffective

collaboration is a much more common phenomenon.

6. Many find collaboration challenging, difficult, or impossible because it

involves working productively with a person or group of people who are

not yourself. It is interesting to note that there is nothing in the phrase

“to work with” that defines how “to work with”.

7. Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “Hell is other people”. The workii in which he

said this is an exemplary example of how to collaborate ineffectively. iii

7.1. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the play focuses on three white

Europeans who have gone to hell, which is made up of one room

decorated in the Second Empire fashion. The entire rest of the world

is left in other undescribed rooms:

7.1.1. “GARCIN Are all the other rooms like this one? VALET. How

could they be? We cater for all sorts: Chinamen and Indians, for

instance. What use would they have for a Second Empire chair?”iv

8. I have extensive experience with ineffective collaboration in American K-12

schools, where I worked as a teacher for 10 years. Some of what I learned:

8.1. Administrators prefer to assign collaborative projects to groups of

teachers or other personnel in whom they have little vested interest.

8.2. The time and energy necessary for effective collaboration is generally

not available in K-12 schools.

8.3. Because of such constraints, it may be preferable for educators to

perform a facsimile of collaboration.

8.4. Also, it is most expedient for the administrators if the teachers “work

with” each other to come up with solutions already chosen in

advance.

8.3.1. This means that the best collaborators are those whose goals,

interests, and priorities most closely match those of the

administrator. (Note-sycophant is not a word commonly used in

American K-12 schools.)

8.3.2. If, on the outside chance, the group of teachers or other

stakeholders do come up with a solution to a problem that the

administrator did not foresee or approve, it may be expedient to

simply scrap the entire exercise.

8.3.3. Administrators enjoy commiserating with each other about how

difficult teachers are to work with. Assigning them collaborative

tasks allows administrators time to get their own work done while

providing them with entertaining evidence of the teachers’

ineffectiveness for the next time they meet with other

administrators.

9. Of course, collaboration is not limited to K-12 schools but also takes place

between different organizations, such as nonprofit and government

agencies. I also have experience in those realms and learned the

following:

9.1. Most collaborations between organizations are asymmetrical,

meaning one organization usually has more resources, clout, etc. than

the other one.

9.1.1. This leads to a dynamic that my brother (who is a lobbyist) once

explained to me as the following: whoever has the most money gets

the most democracy. v

9.1.2. Individuals who are not aware of this dynamic may find

collaboration between different organizations challenging.vi

10. Another type of collaboration takes place within organizations, such as

museums. It is important to understand hierarchical thinking in these

instances vii:

10.1. See 8.1 and replace administrator with director and teachers with

staff.

10.2. See 8.2.

10.3. See 8.3 and replace educators with staff.

10.4. See 8.4 and follow the directions for 10.1.

10.5. See 8.5 and replace administrator with director. Note that

sycophant may be a term used in museums and other nonprofits, but

it is not likely to be applied to any specific personnel as that would be

hurtful.

10.6. See 8.6 and follow directions for 10.1

10.7. See 8.7 and (again) follow directions for 10.1.

10.8. Also, bear in mind, that 10.1 – 10.7 are entirely dependent upon

the whims of the nonprofit or museum boardviii, a carefully selected

group of individuals who likely have little experience in the

professions of the staff they are overseeing.ix

11. Universities and Colleges may be seen as another site of ‘collaboration’.

11.1. In these spaces, as in the ones mentioned in 8 – 10, collaboration may

be referred to by other terms or be a part of a larger task.

11.1.1. “Networking”, working on “committees”, doing “research”, and

“graduate assisting” are a few examples.

11.1.2. Hierarchical thinking, as described in 9.2 and 10 continues to be

prevalent.x xi

12. In conclusion, collaboration could be seen as a utopian concept.

12.1. However, if you still insist on trying it, I have a few pointers that

might help.

12.1.1. Bring snacks.

12.1.2. Be respectful and kind.

12.1.3. Try to get to know your fellow collaborators in terms of race,

culture, gender, sexuality, background, and general concerns.xiixiii

12.1.4. Listen to your fellow collaborators.

12.1.5. Communicate clearly, remembering 14.1.2.

12.1.6. Set a time frame in advance.

12.1.7. Have an idea of what you hope to achieve.

12.1.8. Write shit down.

12.1.9. Remember that humans are “intensely social” creatures, who,

though complex, also share commonalities. xiv

i Please never doubt my love for the Society of Friends. I just do not have the time or the amount of peanut butter

sandwiches that a task of this size would require.

ii Sartre, J.-P., & Camus, A. (2015). No Exit and Three Other Plays. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

iii Eternalised. (2021, May 15). No Exit | Jean Paul Sartre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9NJrk97JY

iv Sartre, J.-P., & Camus, A. (2015). No Exit and Three Other Plays. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, p. 3.

v I know you are wondering, but, no, on that Thanksgiving in 2007, he did not think that there was anything

concerning about his statement. As a 25-year-old white, male, who had recently graduated from the University of

Texas, and had just been hired by a valet customer at the Four Seasons to join a Texas Legislator’s office, his

wisdom was boundless.

vi Yin, J., & Jamali, D. (2021). Collide or Collaborate: The Interplay of Competing Logics and Institutional Work in

Cross-Sector Social Partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 169(4), 673–694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-

04548-85

vii, This is despite what one may have read in graduate school.

viii Again, despite what one may have read in graduate school.

ix If they attended graduate school at all, it was likely in what they would term a more fiscally responsible field. (See

9.1.1.)

x As I am now writing this in a university, we may be able to recognize that race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnic

background, and privilege is performed all influence how collaboration is carried out.

xi On the other hand, maybe not: Davis, D. J., Chaney, C., Edwards, L., Thompson-Rogers, G. K., & Gines, K. T.

(2011). Academe as Extreme Sport: Black Women, Faculty Development, and Networking. Negro Educational

Review, 62/63(1–4), 167–187.

xii Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogy of the oppressed (Thirtieth anniversary edition.). Bloomsbury.

xiii hooks, bell. (2013). Writing beyond race: living theory and practice (1st ed.). Routledge.

xiv Adolphs, R. (2003). COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: Cognitive neuroscience of human social behaviour. Nature