Collaborate: The Art of We

116 Collaborate: The Art of We

Put the Goal in Writing and Share for Review

Remember the old telephone game? One person whispers a little story to

the next person in a circle, who whispers it to the next person, and so on.

By the time the story gets back to the fi rst person, it has usually changed

signifi cantly.  e tendency for the message to get changed in the course

of verbal communication is why we put contracts, agreements, and other

important information in writing.

 e act of writing may seem like a superfl uous step after the group

has thoroughly discussed and agreed on its unifying goal. But a written

goal helps to avoid misunderstandings, and the act of writing down the

goal goes a long way toward ensuring clarity and cohesion when ...