Backwards Quote by Edward Boyden
“If you think backwards from a big problem, and you talk to all these other people who have skills and who think forward from their skills, it's very easy to form collaborations because everyone is incentivized to work together.”
About This Quote
Source Talk: Interview on collaborative research, 2022
Approaching a large challenge by consulting diverse experts leads to natural collaboration, as each person’s strengths align with shared goals.
In simple terms: Working with many skilled people makes teamwork easy.
Key Takeaway
Leverage diverse expertise to solve big problems.
Themes
collaboration
interdisciplinary
innovation
Mood
optimistic
strategic
Type
advisory
inspirational
When to use this quote
- research projects
- product development
- policy design
- community initiatives
Key Concepts
networking
skill complementarity
incentive alignment
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you identify complementary skills in a team?
- What incentives encourage joint effort?
A Different Perspective
If expertise are siloed, collaboration can still be hindered by competition.
![“I've done collaborations with Scott [Morgan, aka Loscil] in the past, but it is something that kind of appeals to me these days.” quote by King Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/08e/king-khan-49971_aka_i-ve-done-collaborations-with-scott-morg_275610.jpg)
