Growing up, my parents told me two things about life that remain true. First, success comes from consistent hard work and honest effort, and second, my community will help make success a reality in ways I cannot do alone. I could point out so many examples around me that exemplify the truth of both.
In high school, it was the 400-meter relay team or the gospel choir at church. My team felt the consequence of my performance, whether poor or outstanding. Where I lacked, others compensated. Where others lacked, I pulled their weight. It was a mutually understood partnership of shared competence. During college, the lesson traveled outside the practice room. I held town halls with grassroots community organizers and planned startup pitch competitions with other student innovators. Over time, I realized collaborating with others was the most important, yet delicate, part of any planning process. To be successful at it, collaboration requires a high level of intention and deep emotional awareness. It is essential to understand the combination of skills, perspectives, and attitudes each person brings to the table.
I’ve found collaboration to be the driving force for the most impactful results in innovative ecosystem development. Here at TEDCO, I have the chance to practice that daily. Collaboration is a core value at TEDCO, it is essential to our bottom line and our organization’s culture.
We leverage collaborative thinking from the very start. As the Ecosystem and Equitech Manager, I’ve seen firsthand how my colleagues and I work across departments to thoughtfully steward unique grant funds like Equitech Growth Fund or the Pava LaPere Innovation Awards. Not only do we seek to understand an opportunity from multiple perspectives, but we also encourage ideas codesigned with other stakeholders, both internally and externally. We challenge ourselves to think about how we can amplify the efforts of those around us rather than build from scratch.
And if we must build from scratch, we invite others who share the same vision to join us. You’ll find this true across our initiatives, whether it be portfolio company support, ecosystem partner development, or funding technology commercialization from research universities. The list goes on and on. Our success thrives on Maryland’s success. We cannot do it alone.
Oftentimes, we think of collaboration as secondary, only after we have identified an initial problem and scoped a solution. There are a million ways to approach a problem. It’s the unique combination of people involved that decides how we get there.