Attending the Plywood Presents: Hope of Collaboration event today. Really good stuff. Listening to Charles Lee talk about collaboration. Charles is a great friend, and knows all about collaboration. He started the Ideation Conference, Idea Camp, and a number of other projects and initiatives that are truly built on the foundation of collaboration.

Here are a few thoughts from Charles on Collaboration (with a bit of paraphrasing from me, but based on several of his key points):

1. always make sure expectations are clearly laid out on the front end. Good contracts make good partnerships. Good fences make good neighbors.

2. stay adaptive. Flexibility is key when it comes to partnerships and collaboration.

3. see collaboration as a need, and not just an option. Collaboration is incredibly important in today's economy. Success depends on it.

4. choose wisely. everything today is now recorded and made public. so be careful. it's much easier to say no on the front end to a potential partnership or collaborative project, than it is to try and unravel a partnership gone bad.

5. be accessible and build everything on trust. Being human and approachable makes collaboration much easier.

6. be a great listener, and figure out ways to serve. Most of us are great talkers and end up asking for way more, vs. listening and figuring out how to add value.

7. creativity comes from collaboration. it's messy, but can work. The more people involved, the more complicated. But also probably more creative at the end of the day.