The Push & Pull Of Collaboration
On Friday I heard Tom Morello’s Radio Comandante Show on SiriusXM Octane. If you like hard rock music like me, you will know who he is. If you don’t, you should check him out. He has had multiple Grammy nominations and wins. Also, he has a BA in political science from Harvard University. I really want to hang out with him someday – I’ll bet we could have an awesome discussion on leadership and education. On his show on Friday, Tom said, “I love collaborations with other great artists because it pushes and pulls me in different directions.” He was expressing his tremendous enthusiasm for working with talented individuals and bands. I believe he enjoys the dynamic nature of collaborating with others, as it challenges him creatively and allows for a wider range of ideas and perspectives.
I loved that he called out collaborations because this showed his appreciation for the diversity of input and the growth that can come from being influenced by other artists’ unique styles and approaches. We all need these collaborations. I just got asked to chair/facilitate a big event in Berlin, Germany in November that will involve leadership from companies in several different countries. I love working for this convener because it becomes a collaboration where I get pushed and pulled to learn so many new things – not to mention all the great people I get to meet and collaborate with from around the world. We need to seek out and embrace being pushed and pulled to grow.
Of collaborations, Morello also said it, “Forces me to try things I wouldn’t otherwise try.” This was a great point to hammer home how collaborating with others can stretch us in ways we never imagined. We use stretch lessons in education to take our students learning to new heights and we need to embrace this as adults as well. Let’s all take a page from Tom’s playbook and step up our collaboration game.
Byron's Babbles 
leave a comment