Collaborate To Save Lives

Collaboration is often used in feel-good ways rather than value-add ways. Having done a book with a theme on creating more collaboration at work, I realize now how many people use the word as a paper-over word. Meaning, when “I want them to follow me, I ask them to collaborate”. They go into it unwilling to be changed and so it is more of the same. I’ve come to want to do a big old <eyeroll> whenever I hear the word. That’s because I know — and I suspect you know this too — collaboration is about coming together to *co-labor* towards a shared goal. It is always about getting something done because of each other not in spite of each other. Feel good happens AFTER the results are in.

Well, I want to tell you about a collaboration that I’ve been involved in, and ask you to co-create the outcome.

There’s a book being published today, September 7th, that aims to get something important done. It’s called End Malaria, because that’s what it aims to do.

End Malaria uses the power of collaboration with one bold commitment. To save lives. Some amazing authors like Tom Peters and Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Nicholas Carr, Roger Martin, Barry Schwartz, Derek Sivers, Mitch Joel, Nancy Duarte, Brene Brown … (oh, the list is wonderful) have come together to contribute new insightful nuggets . I don’t know how I got lucky enough enough to contribute, but I’m glad. (My contribution is on ‘Avoiding Suck-ness‘.) Together, we offer some insights, advice, guidance, all rolled up into a nudge to make your dreams more reachable. I’ve never seen such an outstanding compilation. Michael Bungay Stanier, Senior Partner at Box of Crayons, deserves a lot of credit for his work in bringing together this tribe.

The purpose behind this work is simple. Every 45 seconds, a child dies of malaria. Yet malaria is preventable and treatable.

The focus of purpose brought together some amazing support. None of the participants are earning a dime. The idea contributors have given of themselves, and Amazon and Domino have subsidized the book so that $20 from EVERY book purchased goes to Malaria No More, an international organization dedicated to fighting and eliminating Malaria deaths by 2015. Let’s make today End Malaria Day.

End Malaria will transform the lives of everyone who reads it. But more importantly, it helps save lives.

Now for the co-creation part.

Buy a book, save someone’s life. How often do you get to do that? Better yet, buy a copy for every member of your team. Let’s end Malaria forever. Let’s do this.