Number 29 in Hugh MacLeod's book Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.
"[You take power by] not needing anything from another person in order to be the best in the world."
We give our power away when we believe that we desperately need someone to accomplish our life's work or complete a creative endeavour. We take our power when we know we don't need anyone, when we know we are more than sufficient as we are.
There is a difference between desperate need and true collaboration. I have done both.
In projects where I had given my power away (but I need their skills, but I need their contacts), the outcomes have consistently turned out unsatisfactory or downright disastrous. My perceived desperate need (perceived personal lack) stopped me from responding to gut-feel warnings about the people I thought I needed. I was too willing to turn a blind eye to integrity failures, to vision misalignments, and to values incompatibilities. Sooner rather than later, these fundamental issues raise their ugly heads.
On the other hand, when I had collaborated openly with others (because it was good to work with them, and not because I could not do it without them) the results were consistently beyond expectations.
