No great idea can be developed or implemented well without a community that believes and supports it. We need each other. Community, whether it’s an internal team or an external constituent of people, provides thought refinement, accountability, and tangible resources. Furthermore, what fun is it in accomplishing something if there’s no one else to celebrate with at the finish line?

As a consultant, I strive to stay collaborative in my projects with clients. My goal is to build lasting, reciprocal relationship that goes beyond the transactional engagement of a project. Transactions eventually end, but relationships continue to endure. Developing community around a project is vital to its success. This takes a lot of intentional effort beyond basic client relationship management (CRM). This is why I call it Co/”labor”ate (i.e., It involves thoughtful labor together.).

I have no desire to be the “expert” that comes in and just solves everything on his own. First of all, no one is that good and secondly, it will never produce the kind of strategy and process that will be embraced by the organization as a whole. We is far more powerful than me.

Henry Ford was right when he said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”