Clarity is the Enemy of Collaboration (just ask Jeff Bezos & Warren Buffett) - Ann Tardy | Speaker, Author, Trainer

Clarity is the Enemy of Collaboration (just ask Jeff Bezos & Warren Buffett)

Last month, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway announced a collaboration to transform how healthcare is delivered to their employees.

Essentially, they’re partnering to disrupt the American healthcare system. Many criticize that they don’t have it figured out: big on ideas, small on details. But that’s the secret to fruitful collaboration: go in with ambition, come out with solutions!

If we’re clear on the details and specifics as we embark on the journey, there’s no need to collaborate. The other admonition about this alliance is their utter lack of experience in healthcare to effectively tackle this massive headache.

But that’s another secret to valuable collaboration: combine different experiences and perspectives to attack an old problem in a new way.

  • Amazon is masterful in removing layers of sales and distribution.
  • JPMorgan Chase offers expertise in money and finances.
  • Berkshire Hathaway is proficient in investing and business.

 

Ultimately, collaboration demands audacious thinking from people willing to take a chance and create something magnificent together.

CEOs Bezos, Dimon, and Buffet are cognizant they can solve this conundrum better together than alone. They are already reimagining issues such as lower drug prices, the use of telemedicine, and payment for quality care not quantity of services. And they are inspired by benefiting not only their employees but all Americans with bold new solutions.
At the launch of any collaboration, forget clarity, and instead choose to:

  • Imagine new opportunities to disrupt, transform, or solve
  • Involve those with deep knowledge, different experiences, and varying perspectives
  • Inspire around a collective creed that gives purpose to the partnership

 

And if you lead a team or an organization, you can bolster collaboration by letting go of the need for clarity, specifics, and details.

Your job is to imagine, involve, and inspire!

From there your people will apply their experiences, generate solutions, and figure out the details.