Cooperation - by Darylynn Starr Rank
March, 2006

When I was at university I attended a guest lecture by a female philosophy scholar who was exploring the nature of collaboration and cooperation in academia. Sadly (and with apologies to her), I do not remember her name and even googling some of the concepts she used did not produce any results. So I can’t give her the credit she deserves for some ideas that have affected my view of the world ever since.

Her basic premise was that when many academics try to examine a topic, explore an idea, create a research hypothesis, or discuss someone’s premise or theory or proposal, there was a tendency to ‘shoot it down and pick it apart’  (my words). There’s an Australian expression that sums it up more colourfully (even if originally used to describe their relationship with the environment),  ‘If it moves, shoot it. If it grows, cut it down.’

Many graduate students have experienced this kind of so-called ‘help’ from faculty members more than once, but there wasn’t really a label for it. But academia isn’t the only place this distorted kind of ‘collaboration’ and ‘cooperation’ takes place. 

Collaboration. Cooperation. ‘Shoot it down. Pick it apart?’ Doesn’t sound too good, does it? Doesn’t sound very promising. Actually it doesn’t sound like cooperation at all. But it’s astonishing how often it’s what passes for ‘working together’. 

On the personal front, some of my best ideas are the strangest sounding things. (My mind occasionally works very weirdly.) My husband has learned to resist pointing out everything that’s so ‘obviously’ wrong with one of my ideas until we’ve had a chance to explore it, add to it, enhance it, figure out how to make it work, because often the weirdest ideas are the really good ones. He even tries to copy my way of thinking when his (very linear) mind can’t solve a problem.  The main trick he uses when doing this, is not to discard ideas out of hand; instead try everything possible to make every one of them work, then see what’s best.

But how often does it work the other way for most of us. How often are we reluctant to voice a new idea or unusual thought because we just know someone’s going to stomp on it? At work, at home, in school. On the playground. With our children. 

‘Shoot it down…’ 

‘No, that’s not the right way to do it.’  ‘You have to do it this way.’  ‘Oh, dear, that’s not a good idea because…(fill in the blank with any of a thousand phrases)’.  ‘Oh, that’s not how you play this game!’ Or, simply, ‘That’s stupid.’    

What could we do differently?

‘What a good idea. But there is this little problem with it, so how can we make it work?’ ‘Oh, that’s an interesting approach. We could…(fill in the blank with any of a million ideas). “What fun. That would make it more interesting, wouldn’t it?’ ‘Let’s figure out how to use it.’ ‘That’s so smart!’

Work together. Think together. Figure things out together. Be inclusive instead of exclusive. Generate ideas and build on them. Add to them. Make odd and unusual ideas that ‘just don’t fit’ – fit! . Make ideas more and more. (Instead of the ‘less and less’ of shooting at them and cutting them down!) 

Inspire cooperation, enthusiasm, creativity, self-confidence!  Utter, complete encouragement!

What a good idea!

Take care, all.

Darylynn Starr Rank (psychologist/writer) works part-time for Family Services of Greater Vancouver as a group facilitator. Her articles appear bi-weekly in The Record (New Westminster) and the Richmond Review.

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