Are You a Joiner?

I know that it is a big buzz thing right now to be a collaborator, but I actually really like to collaborate with someone else or in a small group. I like how the additional mind power can build a better and stronger framework for an idea. I like how the varied experiences of the group participants can inform the method of implementing the idea and possibly staving off unintended consequences.

I’m not naturally a joiner though. Put me in a group and I will become part of the group, ask me to find a group and join it and I will find something else to do. Especially if I have time to think about it. If I find out about a meeting for something that I can see benefit to and the meeting is that day or the next day, I am much more likely to actually do it. Give me a longer time frame and I will potentially talk myself out of it. (This is the introvert in me – I’ve missed out on some interesting experiences.)

Now I do get why more strongly introverted people that don’t see a benefit to collaboration would avoid joining groups unless pressed, but I don’t have a solid answer as to why I duck groups. Particularly when I join a group and find great, energetic people. The answer is just because and that isn’t a compelling argument – no matter how you look at it.

So I have to challenge myself to fight this avoidance. I am in job search which means that in my work aspects I need a new pack to run with and so I have joined not just one (which I did immediately before I had time to object) but two job search groups. I had to be pressed (gently but firmly) by a new friend into joining the second – why would I need two of the same thing?

And yet, and yet I am so very pleased with this nudge. Each group has a very different tone and dynamic and I get very different things from each group. I am not the only person that I know who participates in both groups, yet these groups still meet different needs and come at the same things from different angles.

So I have a challenge for my fellow non-joiners out there – working, job search, what have you – find a new group and join it. See the world that you know from a different angle and find out what that does for you. There are so many wonderful people to encounter.

Find a group, take a class – something related to an existing interest. Sit in the back quietly at first if that make you feel better. Get a sense of things, pick out one or two people that look approachable; smile at anyone who approaches you and say hi. Ask them what got them to this group. Just be open to possibilities.