What 30 years behind a drum kit taught me about collaboration

Collaboration is either a superpower at your organization or just a catchphrase. The difference often comes down to control.

I'm a drummer. The range of sounds and intensity available to me could let me drive or take over a song at any given moment, but after 30 years of playing, I like to think my skill is knowing when to and when not to. In a band, top performers aren't controlling the song. They're controlling their own instrument, all in service of what they're playing together.

And when someone misses a note or drops a beat? We can roast each other for it freely and easily, because everyone knows it's not a knock on anyone's skills or said with a hidden agenda. It's just everyone wanting to be on the same page and get better together. Feedback is welcomed, not feared.

Collaboration in a working environment isn't that different. When one party uses collaboration as a vehicle for control, my way or the highway, with little trust or respect for the other side, collaboration exists in name only. Whether you have a culture of non-collaborators or just one difficult party, the result is the same: limited ability to advance the work, the people and the mission.

So what does the real thing look like? Kate Vitasek lays it out well in Forbes. Both sides trust each other to do their jobs. Information gets shared, not hoarded. Everyone knows their role, stays aligned on the goal and has the autonomy to execute within their lane. Think riding shotgun, not driving from the backseat. You're fully in the car, engaged, helping navigate. You're just not grabbing the wheel. The focus stays on the outcome, not who gets credit. And when something isn't working, there's enough safety in the relationship to say so.

A 2024 study from the Institute for Corporate Productivity and Babson College found that high-performing organizations are up to 5.5 times more likely to incentivize this kind of collaboration than lower performers. Not just talk about it. Actually incentivize it.

The word is easy. The practice requires checking the ego at the door.