The scientists at the CERN Laboratories in Switzerland have finally found the Higgs Boson particle, that elusive sub-atomic particle which was theoretically thought to exist by a 34-year-old physicist, Peter Higgs, at Edinburgh University some 49 years ago. It has taken almost half a century to find it, but eventually it was located. But one of the interesting question is how did they find it? You can read all sorts of information about the Large Hadron Collider which lies 175m below Geneva; you may even have seen the 83-year-old Professor Higgs close to tears on TV as the announcement was made. But crucial to the discovery of the Higgs Boson is teamwork. As clever as Professor Higgs undoubtedly is, he couldn’t have found the particle on his own.

Similarly, in London, the tallest building in Europe – The Shard – was opened amidst great fan-fare but the design took many more people than just one 74-year-old Italian architect who led the project. Architect Renzo Piano has spoken many times about “my team”.

The Shard from Rob Deja on Vimeo.

We may say things like “St Pauls Cathedral was build by Sir Christopher Wren” – but he didn’t do it on his own. Even Pythagoras’s Theorum appears to have been produced by several people – no matter what schoolchildren are told about a Greek mathematician staring at a marble floor…! Wherever you look, greatness is almost always the result of collaborative teamwork.

So, why do we struggle on, trying to produce our blogs on our own? The most famous columnists in our newspapers might like to think they are a one-person empire. But they have editors who give them ideas, sub-editors who refine what they have written and critics who help them stay focused. In other words, even a single-person newspaper column is, in fact, the product of teamwork and collaboration.

Many bloggers spend hours staring at a blank screen in the hope of inspiration. Others give up after a while because they cannot sustain their lonely occupation. The answer is collaboration.

Interesting research in the UK is looking at the impact of collaborative writing on a range of psychological features. Although still in progress, the study has already revealed that collaborative writing has a number of impacts beyond the writing itself. It seems that collaboration raises things like aspiration, initiative and social skills.  The study is also considering things like self-esteem and “locus of control” (whether you actually feel in charge of what you are doing).

The early data suggests that collaboration does more than help you produce a better blog. Not only does it help you become more productive, it also inspires you to do more and you feel better about it. All of those positive psychological factors could also carry over into other areas of your business. Collaborating on your business blog could boost your business.

So, come on then, who wants to collaborate with me? I’m always happy to receive Guest Posts, but if you’d like to do more than that just contact me and let’s see how we can both help each other.

Oh – and if you want my Complete Guide to Blogging – Click Here

Related articles

• What Does the Discovery of Higgs Boson Mean? [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
• Six People Who Can Ease the Blogger’s Burden (problogger.net)
• From Social Sharing to Creative Collaboration (scottmonty.com)