Tag Archive for: collaboration

Collaboration

Working together, with a group of returned missionaries is such a joyful delight.
Last night, despite being geographically dispersed, literally thousands of miles apart, through the marvel of technology, we were focused, unified and purposeful in the pursuit of a new book project.
Our working title โ€“ โ€œ๐‘ซ๐’‚๐’Š๐’๐’š ๐‘บ๐’‚๐’๐’• โ€“ ๐‘ฌ๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š๐’…๐’‚๐’š ๐‘ท๐’‚๐’“๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’” ๐’•๐’ ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’”๐’‘๐’†๐’ ๐‘ป๐’“๐’–๐’•๐’‰๐’”โ€
It is a collaborative effort.
Collaboration: โ€œis the act of working together to produce a piece of work, especially a book or some research.โ€
I certainly liked the feeling of being a team again.
Any successful collaboration requires our time as well as effort to communicate and gain understanding.
Whilst serving in Belgium and the Netherlands, each of them learned that to be successful in their work, they must be together, as one.
Creating a culture of collaboration was essential in the mission field, and now a new opportunity has arisen for them to co-create in a collaborative way.
Together they shared their views, we heard different perspectives, and received a broader understanding of the project at hand in a respectful and loving way.
It was captivating, engaging and quite frankly just so exciting to be working together again.
I was so grateful to sit in counsel once more with so many of my dear friends.
Individuals brought their own unique perspectives to our discussions, which is of course highly desirable in any great collaboration.
I count it a great blessing and privilege to work with each one of them.
It was as if weโ€™d switched on a powerful divine light as we collaborated and shared ideas.
We began to understand each of our roles and how the project work will move forward.
Through experience, we all know the best collaborators also need to be great communicators.
We learned that successful collaboration allows for lots of benefits to emerge that are essential to success, including delegation, innovation, planning, persuasion, agility, and speed.
And we got off to a marvellous start!
It feels that all of this experience didnโ€™t just happen by accident, or random chance, but rather by divine design.
I canโ€™t wait to meet again in two weeksโ€™ time.
How do you feel about working in a collaborative team?

United we stand, divided we fall

โ€œ๐”๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐, ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅโ€
It is a familiar phrase, used to express unity and collaboration.
Meaning โ€“ if we donโ€™t stand together, ultimately, we will not succeed.
It is a phrase that has been used throughout history to inspire and lift couples, groups, teams, political parties, countries and many more.
Biblically, in Matthew 12:25 and also in Luke 11:17, the scriptures convey the common message that a house divided against itself will not stand.
In modern culture, J.K. Rowling uses a variation of the phrase in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Albus Dumbledore says, โ€œWe are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.โ€
The Bundle of Sticks
I love the moral of this story.
โ€œAN OLD man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a bundle of sticks and said to his eldest son: โ€œBreak it.โ€ The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful. โ€œUntie the bundle,โ€ said the father, โ€œand each of you take a stick.โ€ When they had done so, he called out to them: โ€œNow, break it,โ€ and each stick was easily broken. โ€œYou see my meaning,โ€ said their father.โ€
๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’† ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’…, ๐’…๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’…๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’† ๐’‡๐’‚๐’๐’.
Recently D. Todd Christofferson said regarding unity, that โ€œโ€ฆwe cannot be one unless we all bend our efforts to the common cause.โ€
The common cause could be in the home, in our marriages, in our missionary companionships, in our workplaces, or in our teams.
He went on to say that โ€œโ€ฆ unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony.โ€
David O. McKay taught โ€œUnity, harmony, goodwill are virtues to be fostered and cherished in every home.โ€
I accept that unity of ideals and purpose is often hard to achieve.
So how do we build that unity, that harmony with one another?
My favourite piece of counsel and direction comes from Gordon B. Hinckley, he said โ€œsomehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.โ€
For all of us in life, there comes a time to confront ourselves with ourselves โ€“ it is a compulsory part of learning and growing.
A time when each of us may have to concede the error of our ways and pride gives ways to humility.
We move forward by standing together, talking together, listening together, working together, serving together, sharing together and by doing good together.
Amid all the hardships of human life, if we can understand a little more of the principle of unity and establish it in our heartsโ€ฆ then our homes, our marriages, our communities and our workplaces, will be much more harmonious.
If you were to explain unity to someone, what would you say?