Short Answer. Long Answer.

Today I had an interesting conversation with some colleagues that led to an interesting question being asked: "How can we have a collaborative culture in our building if teams aren't allowed to try things?" 

I've been thinking about that question ever since the conversation ended. Which was probably *exactly* the askers intention. 

And well the short answer is .... We can't. 

But the long answer is much more complicated. 

We can't have a collaborative culture if teams, and individuals, and well, people in general, aren't allowed to try things. 

But we also can't have a collaborative culture if people aren't allowed to disagree. 

Collaboration doesn't magically happen. It takes a whole lot of work - which anyone working on or working to help build a collaborative team already knows. 

The thing none of us (or at least no sane people) *love* is that part of that work towards building a collaborative team is incredibly uncomfortable. 

Some of that hard work IS disagreeing. And then working through that disagreeance. 

99% of decisions made in a school setting - and dare I assume any workplace setting - are going to involve some amount of disagreement. It's just part of the process because we are all human and we all have different opinions and approaches. 

And so, in workplaces, we generally see two methods used. 

Sometimes top down decisions are made. People may grumble. But good workers do the job (of course, within reason). Sometimes I really truly acknowledge and believe that this has to happen for the best interest of all. 

Other times decisions are collaborative team decisions. Someone brings up an idea or highlights a problem. People work together to hash out the best move forward. This often requires disagreement, explanations, considerations, discussions, and ultimately often requires compromise. Sometimes even a "disagree and committ" stance must be taken when a full compromise cannot be made. 

But sometimes there is a third scenario. It may be more unique to education or any work place where there are multiple sub-teams functioning somewhat separately but yet working towards the same whole-team goal.

Sometimes a decision must be made collaboratively within a sub-team that mostly effects that team, but has a ripple effect to the other parts of the greater team. 

And that can be the hardest part of collaboration of all. If you are not on the sub-team working on the decision, this comes across as a "top down" decision because you were not part of the collaboration. Yet, you may *know* it was a collaborative decision - your piece just wasn't part of the collaboration. This creates a somewhat uncomfortable dynamic.

On teams that are so used to making those collaborative decisions, people may not know exactly where to go with their thoughts on these decisions. 

Do they grumble quietly? Do they speak up vocally as if the decision hasn't been made? Do they just keep their mouth shut because it isn't their sub-team? But what if they feel very personally invested because they very much buy into the idea of the larger team aspect?

It's tricky. And sometimes it feels like people are just being disagreeable. 

To be fair, maybe sometimes they are. 

But maybe sometimes disagreements voiced arent a sign that you don't have a collaborative culture. Maybe sometimes it's that you've done a good enough job developing a collaborative culture that people are used to getting to voice their piece. Used to getting the opportunity to talk through things. Maybe sometimes it's a sign that you have sub-teams that are fully invested in the larger team. 

And, so, we can explain the other side to them. Or sometimes we might just tell them "On this one, we have to defer to this sub-team." 

So my long answer is: We can't have a collaborative culture if people aren't allow to try things. It is wonderful to have a  collaborative culture where people are able to voice disagreements, concerns, and other opinions in a place where they will be taken seriously and talked through in a way appropriate for the situation (which differs each time). 

Respectful disagreement, when people are able to remain committed to upholding the decision after having their concerns heard, is not a sign of a breakdown of a collaborative culture. Sometimes those voiced disagreements are just people eager to be part of the collaboration - even if it wasn't their rodeo this time - that need a place to go with their thoughts. Maybe it is a sign that collaboration is expected, desired, and missed .... Which is actually an awesome sign .... you just have to get through the uncomfortableness of deciding what the explanation is going to be to the ones who weren't part of the collaboration that go round, first.