The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together

As is my custom when a new year begins, I recently re-read this book and The Creative Habit while preparing questions for interviews of thought leaders. The insights that Twyla Tharp shares in them are, if anything, more valuable now than when the books were first published.It would be a mistake to ignore the reference to "habit" in their titles because almost three decades of research conducted by K. Anders Ericsson and his associates at Florida State University clearly indicate that, on average, at least 10,000 hours of must be invested in "deliberate," iterative practice under strict and expert supervision to achieve peak performance, be it playing a game such as chess or a musical instrument such as the violin. Natural talent is important, of course, as is luck. However, with rare exception, it takes about ten years of sustained, focused, supervised, and (yes) habitual practice to master the skills that peak performance requires.Tharp is both a dancer and a choreographer and thus brings two authoritative, indeed enlightened perspectives to her discussion of the life lessons for working together. Many of the same requirements for effective collaboration on classic Disney animated films such as Snow White and Pinocchio must also be accommodated when members of an orchestra and of a ballet company collaborate on a performance of Stravinsky's The Firebird.Tharp characterizes herself as a "career collaborator" who identifies problems, organizes them, and solves them by working with others. Many of the stories she shares in this book "involve the world of dance, but you don't have to know anything about dance to get the pint. Work is work." Her book, she suggests, "is a field guide to a lit of issues that surface when you are working in a collaborative environment." She proceeds to explain why collaboration is important to her - "and, I'll bet, to you." Her narrative is enriched by dozens of memorable anecdotes from her career as dancer/choreographer but almost any reader can identify with her experiences, especially with her struggles.She addresses subjects and related issues that includeo What collaboration is and why it matters (also what it isn't)How and why collaborations challenge and change us (for better or worse)How to work effectively with a "remote" collaboratorNote: Given the latest communication technologies (e.g. Cisco's TelePresence), "remote" does not mean "distant" but physical separation makes mutual respect and trust even more important to those involved.How to collaborate with an institution by overcoming problems with infrastructure, intermediaries, and a "deeply en grained" cultureHow to collaborate with a community (e.g. an audience)How to collaborate with friends (there's both "good news" and "bad news")In the final chapter, "Flight School: Before Your Next Collaboration," Tharp stresses the importance of involving others in our efforts. "By standing in our way and confronting us, talking with us as friends [who care enough to tell us what we may not want to hear] or by collaborating with us, other people can help us grind our flaws to more manageable size. For example, my lifelong collaboration with Frank Sinatra." I'll say no more about that. Read the book to learn more.As is also true of The Creative Habit, this is a book to re-read at least once a year, if not more frequently. Beyond its immense entertainment value, it offers rock-solid advice on collaboration, a human relationship that is more important now than ever before in every area of our society. Thank you, Twyla Tharp, for so much...including the fact that you are Twyla Tharp and share so much of yourself in your books and even more in the art you continue to create. Bravo!* * *Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and has created more than 130 dances for her company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, The New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She has won two Emmy awards for television's Baryshnikov by Tharp program, and a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Movin' Out. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1993 and was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1997. She lives and works in New York City. Her books include Push Comes to Shove: An Autobiography (1992) as well as The Creative Habit and, more recently, The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together, also published by Simon & Schuster (2009). The last two are available in a paperbound edition.

I liked the author who explores the gratefulness in aging.

I was on an 11 hour overseas plane ride and read this book on the way to Europe. It was sooo good and informative, that I read it again on my way home from Europe. Great for anybody that works with others in ANY capacity, whether you are a dancer, coach, doctor, law inforcement....it's all the same when working with others and understanding your role in the cooperation/collaboration process.Amazing.

We all think that some people are gifted and creative, but the message Twyla gives is that we can all be creative. It comes from practice. With many good examples, this is a wonderful book if you are interested in a more creative life.

I enjoyed Tharp's The Creative Habit immensely. I consider it one of the clearest statements of what it takes to succeed in a creative field, be it dance, art, engineering, or any of the sciences. So I dove into this with high hopes.I fully agree with everything she says. Collaborations differ according to whether the rest of the team is nearby or distant, or is a friend, institution, or community. Collaboration is learned, and it matters critically in all but the smallest kind of endeavor. And, as in everything else, careful preparation and hard, continuous work improve your chances of success as much as they can be improved. Tharp illustrates these points largely through her own experience with dancers like Barishnikov, dance companies around the world, and small companies of her own. Always, in the relationship between choreographer and dancer, there is an asymmetry: the choreographer designs and the dancer executes. Tharp emphasizes the other half of this relationship as well: the choreographer pays close attention to each dancer, as well, in order to discover and play to their unique strengths. And, of course, performers collaborate with the audience. She illustrates this with "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." That nearly failed as a stage production until the creators added one song: the introduction, "... comedy tonight." Once viewers had their expectations set properly, they loved it.Each chapter ends with a case study: Steve Martin, clothing designer Norma Kamali, her experience with David Byrne, and more. These add focus and concreteness to the discussion. They also emphasize the rewards of successful collaboration for all concerned. I found the discussion lacking in a few ways, however. Perhaps Tharp has never had a collaborator she just couldn't get along with. A little professionalism goes a long way, but the pathological cases do exist. You can't always just bail, so a little more mention of damage control might have helped. Perhaps that asks too much though - to paraphrase Tolstoy, "Happy collaborations are all alike; every unhappy collaboration is unhappy in its own way." Tharp also concentrates on collaborations between peers, albeit peers with different responsibilities in the collaboration. Nearly all collaborations in industry involve management hierarchies. Although engineers (drawing on my own experience) and managers can often work together in their different spheres, the boss/bossed relationship can't be denied and imposes special demands of its own.I found "The Collaborative Habit" helpful, entertaining, and very readable. There's a lot to agree with, including one gem: "... really smart and talented people don't hoard the 'secrets' of their success - they share them." I appreciate brevity, too. Without its airy typesetting, this ~150 page book might have been half as long. Despite her wide experience, however, Tharp seems to lack experience in some of the kinds of collaborations in which many people must engage. This book is good, but it's not the classic that I consider "The Creative Habit" to be.- wiredweird

This is great to see how to practically apply collaboration practices in an effective manner.

Almost as fantastic as the author - Twyla Tharp is an American icon with a sharp eye and ability to articulate the unspoken realities of what it takes to create and maintain productive collaborations . Everyone can learn vital life, work, relationship lessons from this book.

Tharp makes dance & working one. Getting it done. Getting to done with others. It is about us all in synch & given individuality, challenging. Book softens as it describes paths to move it forward. Recommended reading if you leave your house, particularly if needing to work with others.

Me pareció muy buen libro. Como dice la autora, mas que una guía paso a paso es un conjunto de anécdotas donde muestra diferentes escenarios y formas de colaboración. Hay pasajes que hay que leerlos y releerlos lentamente para asimilar lo que está planteando. Como dice en un momento: si lo que quieres compartir es realmente importante no lo simplifiques, no lo "disminuyas su entendimiento"

Love it!, the book arrived in brilliant quality.

A requested gift which my son-in- law was over the moon to get. He was Uber happy. Thats says it all!

I had thought it was going to be a bit more practical.I had liked the Creative Habit for its practical exercises.