by emdot from flickr, used under creative commons
One of the books I turn to again and again is The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist. Twist is a fundraiser, speaker, and author and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and trained thousands of fundraisers to be more effective. She is one of my heroes.
From her website:
Lynne has spent more than three decades working in positions of leadership with many global initiatives including: ending world hunger, protecting the world’s rain forests, empowering indigenous peoples, improving health, economic, and political conditions for women and children, advancing the scientific understanding of human consciousness, and creating a sustainable future for all life.
When I read a blog post this morning (It’s Not Necessarily Who You Know) by DC-area WordCamp organizer Aaron Brazell, I was reminded of a point in Twist’s book regarding collaboration.
Collaboration Creates Prosperity
You could just as easily say: “Partnership creates prosperity.”
If you are looking for a job and work with a recruiter, you and the recruiter have the opportunity to create prosperity. If you have the skills and interview well, you could get a job and the recruiter could get a fee. Everyone wins. If you know a lot of technical information and have no design skills, a partnership with a designer could prove beneficial. Again, everyone wins.
You get the point.
In The Soul of Money, Twist says:
‘Philanthropy is not just for rich people who feel magnanimous, guilty or embarrassed about having more than they need…
We have an opportunity now to retire traditional charity as we’ve known it, and in its place create partnerships in which a shared vision is realized through solidarity and the collaboration of know-how, hard work, and cash resources. This is the new philanthropy, contribution and service in collaboration. When you are in that space, that place, problems dissolve, miracles abound.’
What do we need to succeed in a collaborative partnership?
1. Know how
2. Hard work
3. Cash resources
Although Twist discusses this idea in terms of fundraising and philanthropy, the idea applies to business. Take your good idea. See who you know. Look inside yourself. Outline your passions and aspiration. What do you want to create?
