Over the last week or so, we have met with a group of individuals numerous times. Both companies are working in the same industry and have similar technology. It took us some time to figure out if we were competitors, or potential partners. If we were competitors, we figured that we would wipe each other out. If partners, we would take over the world.

The partnership ended up winning over the competition. (I like to think they were scared of us but I’m fooling myself). What I realized during this process was two important lessons:

The powerful creative mind at work.

1. Try to partner with smart teams - This group is full of smart people. They understand the space we operate in and have built some really cool technology. After the first meeting, I was blown away at the energy in the room while we were brainstorming. It made sense for us to work together in an official capacity because the teams skill-sets compliment each other nicely. There is also a sense of accountability – we aren’t going to let them down and they won’t let us down either.

2. Creativity is King – The talks began with what technology we each had, how could we use it to our advantage, etc. Blah Blah Blah Blah. Who cares! Shit got to be a lot more exciting and fun when we started talking about what we could build by combining our developers. All the non-technical guys got scared of the new team’s potential. These dudes are good….and they have some crazy ideas! The more we encouraged creativity, the better the ideas got. Finally, we settled on a few worth pursuing but only after understanding how crazy (or creative) the ideas had gotten.

While these lessons might not be earth-shattering news, I am in awe of what people are able to accomplish. Creativity shows that there are no boundaries. The saying really is true – “Two minds are better than one.” Find a few smart people, sit down to talk with them, come up with some crazy ideas, and go change the world. You can’t do it alone, so why try?

Let me know how creativity and collaboration has helped you in life – either personal or business? Leave a comment or tweet me @APompliano. I would love to hear the stories and gain a better understanding of this beast!