From Lone Rangers to Mass Collaborators

“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” - Oliver Wendell Homes


“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” -- George Bernard Shaw


Once upon a time, many years ago, I received my undergraduate degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Here we were trained to be a bunch of “lone rangers”. Individually we researched and wrote about topics of great interest to us that were related to our current courses. These lengthy papers, once graded by our professors, disappeared from the surface of the earth forever. My friends in the School of Business had of different experience. They were mostly involved in group projects and presentations. They learned the art of small-scale collaboration, group work and negotiations during most of their class assignments. They griped about the “slacker” in their group (or bragged about being the “slacker” in the group “Hey, I’m doing nothing and getting an A!”). However, like in my college, their efforts, once graded, disappeared forever.

So in my past it seems that my university decided business students needed to learn collaboration while liberal arts majors didn’t. However, most professions do need to collaborate at many different levels. Now, with technology, we have the capability to collaborate, share, and store knowledge like never before. We can share ideas and build on those ideas.

Times have changed, now students are being prepared for a world of mass collaboration mostly through some type of group assignment. Unfortunately, student participation in technological mass collaboration is heavily dependent on the philosophy of the school and/or the experiences of the individual teacher. So what can we as educators do to prepare students for a world of mass collaboration? Here are a few ideas:

• Become mass collaborators ourselves so we can lead by example.
• Look for ways we can incorporate mass collaboration activities in the classroom.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate in mass collaboration, especially technology based collaboration.
• Teach students about mass collaboration, show them examples of successful mass collaboration efforts, and empower them to become collaborators.
• Recognize the personalities that can limit the power of mass collaboration: the slackers, the bossy ones, the lone rangers…
  

Interestingly, many cultures have proverbs or adages that recognize the power of collaboration. Here are a few:

• Behind an able man there are always other able men. - Chinese Proverb
• Many hands make light the work - English Proverb
• Two heads are better than one - English Proverb
• Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. - American Proverb
• Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. - Swedish Proverb
• A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study. - Chinese Proverb
• Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand. - Native American Proverb
• To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. - Chinese Proverb
• What you give you get, ten times over. - Yoruba Proverb