The Group Project That Shouldn't Have Worked
I've been part of a lot of creative collaborations. Most of them have been fine. A few have been genuinely good. One, last year, was the kind of thing that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about how group projects work.
It worked because it was weird. Specifically, it worked because of a set of conditions that I would not have predicted would produce anything good.
The Setup
Six people. Three time zones. No designated leader. No shared aesthetic. No agreed-upon goal beyond 'make something together.' The project started because two people in a group chat said 'we should do something' and four other people said 'yeah' and then somehow it actually happened.
The culture and creativity writing at Calitoy has talked about this — the projects that start with 'we should' and actually become something. They're rarer than they should be.
What Made It Work
I've been trying to figure this out since it ended. Here's what I've got:
Nobody was trying to be in charge, but everybody was willing to make decisions. That's a specific combination that's hard to find. Usually you get either someone who takes over or a group that can't decide anything. This group had people who would just... do things. Make a call. Move forward. And then other people would respond to that and move forward too.
Also: nobody was precious about their contribution. Things got changed, combined, discarded. The women rising conversations at Girl Next Up have a thread about this — the ego cost of collaboration and how some people can't pay it. This group could.
The Weird Part
The thing we made is not what any of us would have made alone. It's not a compromise between our individual visions — it's something that emerged from the collision of them. Something none of us could have predicted or planned.
I don't know how to replicate that. I'm not sure it can be replicated. The maker mindset essays have a piece about the conditions that produce good work versus the conditions you can engineer — and the gap between them. This felt like the gap.
What I'd Tell Someone Starting a Group Project
Find people who can make decisions without needing to be in charge. Find people who aren't precious. Find people who will actually do the thing, not just talk about doing the thing.
And then get out of the way and see what happens. More from Calitoy Community when there's more to report.