Differences to Manage (Cont.)

Once you have made the commitment and the project is underway, differences in personality, background, age, culture, gender, education, and politics, to name only a few, will create distances between the parties or partners that will need to be managed and tended. They will emerge and need to be acknowledged and, hopefully, utilized. Ideally, when there is a style or personality difference, both parties are aware of it and feel a shared responsibility for bridging that difference. An indication that they are able to value and utilize that diversity factor is their ability to name it and to talk about it together. A commitment to accepting and valuing differences and finding ways of ensuring that it is an asset rather than a detriment is crucial.

The analogy of planting a garden is suitable for collaborative projects. The soil is the relationship, with the quality of the soil directly affecting the quality of the plants that grow in it. As with any ecosystem there is always the natural potential for weeds to show up, in addition to the seeds you have planted. Open, honest, respectful, and curious communication will be the equivalent to weeding the garden so the seeds you have planted together in the project can grow strong.

On the following page is a list of personal and organizational aspects and factors. Most categories have a wide spectrum and we all fall somewhere along that spectrum. Where we fall on that spectrum will likely shift over time due to life circumstances, role changes, maturity, and experience, etc. However, we all fall somewhere along the spectrum.