How to Turn Off our Fear of Scarcity to Increase Collaboration?

Photo by Dylan Hunter on Unsplash

We humans fear scarcity by nature. The reason why obesity is a big problem in today’s world departs from our instinct to eat whenever there is food available, after all, thousands of years ago this was a matter of survival.

Fear, as a protection mechanism, has allowed us to evolve and remain alive. Whenever we feel threatened, a little alarm turns on in our heads and we become protective. We've all encountered this protective instinct at work, especially in moments of uncertainty.

One of the topics that would easily turn on protection mechanisms amongst employees of international organizations are funding constraints. Every person whose salary depends on funding renewal wants to preserve their position in the organization, it’s a natural survival instinct. In times of funding shortfall and increasing global crises, we are seeing also a proliferation of protection mechanisms that prevent new opportunities to arise.  

Hard times is when more innovation is needed, and yet, is when is more difficult to work on innovation initiatives, because of people’s resistance. Pretty much everybody has a little alarm turned on, so the questions become how to speak above the noisy alarm of others, and how to turn off our own alarms in innovation teams to embrace more collaboration.

1.      How to turn off our own alarms in innovation teams?

We have placed big expectations on innovation teams in what relates to finding new solutions to our world’s biggest challenges, without realizing that is not up to the innovation teams alone to do this. We can start by acknowledging that innovation teams are ideal environments to test new ways of working together at their inception, but are not the environments where new solutions will grow and display their full impact. 

It is in the interaction between innovation teams and other teams inside of an organization that lasting changes can emerge. Measuring the return on investment from the interaction between innovation teams and other units would be an extremely interesting exercise to confirm this point.  

Innovation teams can be the first movers in what comes to collaborating across teams, and organizations, to engage in experiments that measure openly how effective we are in solving the pressing issues we were founded to solve, and proactively suggest alternative pathways.

We’d like to think that people in innovation teams have a growth mindset by nature, but with time, as we learn to navigate the processes in our organizations, we get comfortable, and we stop challenging ourselves. This is when our little alarms start ringing. 

To quiet our internal alarms and embrace the risks and learning opportunities inherent in innovation, we must reconnect with our original motivations for pursuing social good while balancing them with the pragmatism of our experiences.

2.      How to speak above the noisy alarm from others?

We can start by acknowledging that this is hard. First, because we depart from the prisoner’s dilemma:  what if I do it but the other doesn’t do it, and then I get affected?

Independently on where you are sitting in an organization, you can start by recognizing that each person brings a unique perspective and set of skills that can make your decision-making process more efficient. Try to nourish a growth mindset by asking questions, learning from what’s important for your colleagues, and filter the information from those who appear frustrated about certain things. In between frustrations there is valuable information about processes that could be improved or streamlined.

Doing this same exercise with other people in other organizations can generate a sense of trust over time, that results in opportunities to work together. When you reach this point and you have identified an area of work that can benefit both, you can take the first step in suggesting a collaboration, always being the first giver.

By putting yourself in this position first you signal the other person, being colleague or potential partner in other organization, that you care about making the interaction a success.

If there is something I like about the entrepreneurship ecosystem is that many entrepreneurs are first givers. They know that the odds of success are small, and the only way to increase them is by enlarging the network of supporters. Giving is an excellent way to increase genuine support for your cause.

Navigating the complexities of international organizations requires a shift from competition to collaboration. By turning off our internal alarms and learning to rise above the noise, we can foster environments where innovation and cooperation thrive.

What is your take on this? This topic is not only relevant for employees of international organizations but can be applied across sectors. I’d love to hear from you.

*This is an opinion piece. The views expressed here do not reflect the official views of my employer.