{"id":91836,"date":"2023-02-14T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=91836"},"modified":"2023-02-23T09:24:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T13:24:32","slug":"collaboration-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/collaboration-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Psychology of Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are humans cooperative by nature? Why is collaboration so vital for human societies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our survival depends on our ability to collaborate and coordinate with other people. According to Daniel Pink, human collaboration is made possible thanks to the phenomenon of group synchronization or group timing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the psychology of collaboration, according to Daniel Pink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Power of Synchronization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Daniel Pink, the author of When<\/em>, group synchronization, or group timing, is crucial to a functioning society. Think about the level of synchronization it takes to build a house or distribute food to grocery stores: Without synchronization, collaboration breaks down. (Shortform note: Scientists have long been interested in the psychology of collaboration, pondering the question of why humans evolved to collaborate when it seems acting in your own self-interest would be the evolutionary advantage. In The Social Conquest of Earth<\/em><\/a>, Edward Wilson suggests that collaboration isn’t the product of individual selection, as has been previously suggested, but of group selection<\/a>. While selfish people might have an evolutionary advantage over altruistic people, groups of collaborators will be more successful than any individual selfish person. Wilson goes on to explain how human evolution<\/a> is the product of the tension between these two seemingly conflicting impulses: self-interest and collaboration.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Daniel Pink, to be successful, groups must synchronize on three different levels: around a leader, within the group, and around feelings of goodwill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, people must synchronize around a guiding force or leader.<\/strong> Pink argues that successful group timing requires the existence of a leader, whether that be a person\u2014like an air traffic controller, guiding planes on landing and takeoff\u2014or a thing, like a computer game, dictating when a game starts or whose turn is next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rise of Leaderless Movements<\/strong>

Pink argues that successful group collaboration requires a leader, however the 21st century has seen a rise in leaderless protests movements<\/a> like the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. 

For many of these movements, the lack of a central leader is deliberate. While these leaderless movements are often difficult to repress, they also come with their own challenges. For example, the \u201cyellow vests” protests in France experienced an internal rift when some members of the movement wanted to continue demonstrating while others wanted to throw their weight behind political candidates in the European elections. 

However, despite these challenges, some of the movements have seen success, like protests that resulted in the reversal of unpopular legislation<\/a> in Hong Kong or the resignation of politicians<\/a> in Bolivia. But political sociologists emphasize that when judging the success of social movements, it\u2019s important to remember their purpose, which isn’t to solve the problems that sparked them, but to raise the questions that aren’t being addressed.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, people must synchronize with each other, <\/strong>effectively working together toward a common purpose.<\/strong> Pink argues that for people to willingly, and successfully, synchronize with other people, they must feel a sense of belonging<\/a>. Belonging is an intrinsic human motivation, but Pink outlines three tools that can further elevate our sense of belonging: shared language, symbols of affiliation, and physical connection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n