Collaboration vs. Individualism

It’s good to achieve personal goals, but it can be even more rewarding to work with others to achieve collective goals

Daniel Pink posited that workers are motivated by three things: mastery (personal growth), autonomy (freedom of action), and purpose (contributing to something greater than oneself). (See Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, 2011.)

President D. Todd Christofferson has taught that one reason God organizes His followers into a church is “to achieve needful things that cannot be accomplished by individuals or smaller groups” (“Why the Church,” October 2015 general conference).

Doctrine and Covenants 136 is a good source of guidance about how to collaborate. It is directed to church members preparing for a large-scale relocation to a new home in the Rocky Mountains. This revelation contains a number of principles which are applicable to our collective goals:

1. Assign people to teams and sub-teams. It might seem obvious, but we need to belong to organizations of varying sizes in order to get things done. Just as Jethro taught his son-in-law Moses, it’s insanity for one leader to deliberate over every decision and attempt to resolve every disagreement. (See Exodus 18:13-26.) Like the children of Israel under Moses, church members traveling to Utah were organized with “captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, and captains of tens” (v. 3).
2. Create shared covenant identity. The travelers all made “a covenant and promise to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Lord our God” and to “walk in all the ordinances of the Lord” (v. 2, 4). Those common values and personal commitments strengthened group cohesion.
3. Prepare and provide for others. Each company prepares themselves for the journey and prepares the way for subsequent companies (v. 5-9). The Lord uses the term “pioneer” in this section to signify not a rugged individualist but a forerunner, focused on clearing a path for those who will follow.
4. Overcome individual ambition. Recognize the human tendency to elevate yourself at the expense of others, and learn to channel and curtail it so that it doesn’t become a drag on the team (v. 19).
5. Build trust by keeping commitments. “Keep all your pledges with one another,” return the things you borrow, and if you find something that belongs to someone else, find them and give it back (v. 20, 25-26). Collectively, these kept commitments form the organizational fabric which bind us together.
6. Be kind. Say uplifting things to other team members and about other team members (v. 23-24). Avoid saying things which will cause or escalate conflict.
7. Have fun together. Sing and dance. Rejoice as a group (v. 28).

Several places in the Book of Mormon, we read of groups of people working in unity. For example, in the second year of Alma’s service as chief judge, church members treated one another as equals, shared with each other, and provided for needy people who were not members of the church. Consequently, they prospered and lived in peace, even as they endured persecution. (See Alma 1:26-31.)

Today, I will work toward collective goals. I will follow good principles of collaboration, including setting aside my ego, keeping commitments, and treating others kindly.