Research

I research how people learn to collaborate with one another ‘in the wild.’

I’m currently studying how two different communities – Quakers and product designers – have, each in their own way, developed a culture where people not only collaborate productively, but see each other as sources of innovation.

My research, the long version:

I research how people learn to collaborate with one another ‘in the wild.’

While most research in this area focuses on social-behavioral, cognitive and affective capacities — how people develop people skills — I’m adding to the conversation by zooming out to the level of the community as a whole. Instead of asking, What is a collaborative person?, I’m asking, What is a collaborative community? How does a community develop a ‘culture of collaboration’ that naturally socializes its participants into adopting those collaborative people skills?

I have begun gathering data on this topic through participant-observation and interviews in Quaker communities, a.k.a. the Religious Society of Friends. (Chances are you aren’t familiar with Quakers aside from the smiling man on the Quaker Oats box, or perhaps their role in ending slavery in the United States. They are also often confused with the Amish.) ‘Friends’ is the term Quakers use for themselves.

What is interesting about the Quakers from a collaboration perspective? For one, there is no priest, minister or central leader in a Quaker community. Instead, a typical Sunday gathering consists of Friends sitting in a large circle in meditative silence. If, over the course of an hour, anyone feels moved to speak – enough to stand up in front of a room of people and break a deep silence – they stand and speak. In that moment, that person is the minister. Quakers have, since the mid-17th century, consistently practiced this form of participatory gathering, ministering and listening. During these Meetings for Worship, as they are called, a psychologically safe space is created where participants are invited to speak from the heart, whatever that may be. In a Meeting, you may hear a hymn sung, a story from Zen Buddhism, a Bible quotation, reflections on current events, or any manner of personal religious expressions.

There is an interesting parallel between practices in Quaker Meetings and the practices of human-centered product designers in brainstorming sessions. Both groups intentionally create safe spaces where people feel free to share unconventional ideas and insights without fear of criticism. I’m working on expanding my data collection to include design-thinkers at IDEO and the Stanford Design School in order to flesh out this comparison and shed light on the deep connection between a culture of collaboration and a culture of innovation:

If ‘culture of collaboration’ means commitment to the idea that every participant, whether newcomer or oldtimer, has a voice and something worth listening to, that implies an openness to unexpected ideas from unexpected directions, i.e. innovation.

Going forward, I’m focusing in on how communities like Quakers and designers create opportunities for participants to innovate. I mean innovation not only in the sense of ‘end-products’ (spiritual insights for the Quakers, commercial products/experiences for the designers), but also in the sense of interventions in the social practices of the community itself. For me, this is what being “mindful of process“ has always meant: a culture of collaboration that encourages participants to take an activist role in shaping their group’s collaborative practice in order to better achieve shared goals.