It requires more than a great idea to convince people to work with you. We learned that in school but still seem to forget how it unfolds.

Recently at a startup event people starting flocking around potential partners of complementary skills.
“I’m looking for a developer, are you a developer?” said one gentleman to another. “Yes” was the response. And then began a parade of idea and market and “let us grab a coffee”.
I saw one such team forming and almost immediately closing discussions with others. “They found the ONE” said one of the event organizers.

A week later I bumped into one of those chosen ones and realized that nothing got accomplished on their idea. It appears they may have the right skills but they lacked right motivations.

Co-Founding Improv

I think, maybe, we need to learn how to convince people to work with us along with coming up with ideas. We need to understand what is the right give-and -take that would make “working on the idea” attractive to all.

Human motivation is less understood and ambiguous part of collaboration. The ones who master it reap the rewards.

I would argue that that I need to take care of at least these four things to get someone motivated to work with me.

1. Idea: An idea that is exciting to “them”
2. Skills Inventory: Skills I have and skills I need.
3. Expectations: Time, Competence, and Availability commitments
4. The Offer: Answer to “what’s in it for you?”. Financial and ownership.