When it works well, we call it collaboration. When it doesn’t go well, we call it design by committee. It doesn’t work well when individuals are working towards getting their own way. It also doesn’t work well when the group focuses on what they want rather than what's best for the user. The best collaboration is like a heist movie: everyone has their area of expertise and is trusted to do it. The getaway driver doesn’t tell the safe cracker how to open a safe. But if the safe cracker says they’re going to use explosives, someone else could say it might not work because it mighty interfere with something else. Working with a diverse set of experts can help pick holes in the plan and uncover problems. - Healthy collaboration needs a good facilitator and a decision maker. - Having a vision doesn’t mean bypassing the process. - Have a hypothesis, not an agenda. - Agreement by everyone isn’t required. - Collaborators need to let go of the idea that the things they’re working on isn’t for them. Well-meaning leaders can stifle the creativity of others on their team through collaborating, standardizing processes, or creating formats too early. Even the first stroke on a whiteboard can stifle creativity from the team. And, [[Document owners can stifle asynchronous collaboration]]. --- ## References [Collaboration vs Design by Committee — What is Wrong with UX — Overcast](https://overcast.fm/+TFiXg58DQ)