Are You Crowding The Kitchen?

by 7 Comments

Brass Tack Thinking - Are You Crowding the Kitchen?Collaboration.

That word is so golden-clad in business. The thing we strive for. The thing we each claim to do well. The nature and character of a project, company, environment that we so covet. We idolize companies like Google or IDEO where collaboration seems to be the center of all things great, and our perception that they’ve got a wide open forum, a free exchange of ideas, and individuals completely empowered to bring them to life.

We rebel against too much structure, too many rules, too many limitations. We eschew the idea that we need to be told where to go or how to get there. We are determined to have our voices heard, and to bask in the notion that through collaboration, our work can have merit, too.

But if we go far in the direction of collaborating about and around everything, giving everyone a voice and a vote, making all decisions collective, we risk the worst thing that can happen to any goal and progress toward it:

Lack of clarity.

Sometimes, we need a leader to stand up, take charge, and help us aim our ship at the right destination. We need clarity of purpose and direction that doesn’t always come from us. We need rules and guidelines to help us be our best and most creative while understanding where the boundaries are. And sometimes, we need to just do something ourselves, huddled in our little corner, in order to get it done.

The web has given us unprecedented abilities to express ourselves, to share our ideas, to weigh in on the ideas of others. And so as humans, we’ve come to expect that collaboration and contribution is something we’re entitled to when we enter the business world. We demand that our ideas be heard, that we get a say in decisions and direction, that we blaze the trails and make the rules instead of just having others lay them out before us.

But that’s not always practical. It lends itself to disorganization, even chaos. To easily bruised egos, to liberties run amok, to meandering paths and rabbit holes that aren’t doing anything to help the larger goals at hand. Ultimately, you can end up with a lot of ideas, even more opinions, and zero direction.

We know this, right? Camels being horses designed by committee and all of that.

But here’s the rub:

We believe there can indeed be too many cooks. But rarely are we willing to accept that we might be the one crowding the kitchen.

Are you?


image credit: qmnonic

Filed Under: Management & Leadership, Productivity, Self Improvement Tagged: , , ,
  • http://twitter.com/larsv Lars Voedisch

    Amber, good thoughts. Just got me thinking – and smiling…

  • http://twitter.com/J_Schulz John Schulz

    Adam Behrens had a similar realization in his recent post on 'Finding Brooks' Law' (see http://lisa-weir.blogspot.com/2010/07/finding-b…). Brooks Law, though targeted at software development, essentially says that adding more people to an effort can actually have negative effects on the productivity of the team.

    If I can summarize, I think the key points both of you are trying to make are:

    1. While collaboration is a good thing, there becomes a point at which a leader must emerge to drive decisions and keep things moving forward.

    2. There is also a point at which the communication within a collaborative effort becomes overwhelming; as the network increases, communication channels grow exponentially – making it difficult to maintain a consistent message. Be sensitive to this, and know when to stop adding voices to the particular project.

    3. Reflect on your role. Are you truly adding value to the effort? Are you providing a voice that is not being expressed? Or, are you the one swimming upstream for no particular reason other than to do so? If the latter, have faith that the meal will still get cooked if you aren't in the kitchen.

    Thanks for provoking the opportunity for self reflection, Amber!

  • http://twitter.com/pushingsocial Stan Smith

    I definitely crowd the kitchen when I don't have the will, skill or vision to lead.

    Reminds me of Thanksgiving in my house. My wife is white. I'm black. Our families have radically different ideas of what makes a great thanksgiving meal. It was a source of (sometimes comical) tension for years until, my mother and my mother-in-law decided to make me the Chef. Offer your ideas, but I was the cook.

    In the business setting, it seems that another problem is that the so-called cooks really can't cook! They can't articulate a vision. They are unsure of the direction. They are more comfortable with being a pundit than being a leader. In the end, they rely on “collaboration” to hide their weakness.

    Call me Old Skool, but I still believe that Leaders lead. Other's join,innovate, and pull for the vision. When it works it looks like collaboration.

  • http://www.crossingmarketingandit.com Elmo

    Leading by committee doesn't work and it rarely brings out the best in people. Eventually, someone has to make the call and say, “OK, this is where we're going.” Otherwise, nothing really gets done.

    In the end, “too many cooks spoil the pot” or, as you put so well, the kitchen gets crowded. In every great kitchen there's a Chef running the show.

  • http://twitter.com/mjtwit Mike Jensen

    As I have read through your post a few times now, the thought that keeps coming to mind is that although collaboration can help achieve better outcomes, it may not be the end all-ball for every situation. Certain projects and initiatives, as well as certain working environments, might be better served by a single person taking charge, get it done approach. You really need to evaluate what is trying to be accomplished and determine the most effective approach for it.

    When a collaboration approach is used, I think you have brought up a few thing here that people need to be reminded of; you still need leadership, you still need to communicate; you still need to accountability.

    Thanks (as always) for the great post.

  • http://www.ripeinc.com Len Romano

    Excellent post!

  • http://www.youintegrate.com Kneale Mann

    Of course! Another excellent post, Amber. If we're honest with ourselves we have to admit that each of us is the one crowding the kitchen at any given time. But we have to be aware when it's our time to get the meal started.