Are you? Do you enjoy solitariness? Are you truly so self-sufficient that you don’t need (or want?) to partner in order to accomplish (fill in the blank)? Why do it alone? Do you know? Is it lack of trust that someone else would want or have the ability to become involved? Is it you are concerned that you’ll lose the ‘control’ to someone else? Or… do you think that no one will care as much as you? Another factor is that perhaps it’s a feeling of why would anyone want to be involved in what I’m doing… and if I don’t ask I won’t be rejected, or worse – ridiculed. Apply to you?
I do believe that other people’s commitment has to be a strong rationale as to why we don’t always involved others – but I think the loss of control would probably be the strongest reason. If you are the one with the vision, if it’s your ‘baby’ then perhaps it could be your inability to articulate it so that others could or would want to become involved? If you are the ‘designated’ leader, do you doubt your abilities to lead others? There are a host of questions that can be asked, but the basic one is – do you want to go it alone?
Trust, self-sufficiency, opinions all play a role in our willingness to seek others to be involved. Perhaps previous experience of involving others has verged on disastrous. Regardless, each new venture, each new ‘project’ is opportunity to go it alone or partner with others. If you are doing the ‘inviting’ then you have to face those questions and issues that support, or not, providing the invitation. If you are the one being invited, then these same questions and issues exist but from a different perspective. Point in all this – whether to partner or not.
Going it alone does have advantages, basically those of control. But you do miss another’s viewpoint or suggestions. None of us has all the answers, even when we think we do. Sharing really underscores the notion of inclusion and of teamwork to accomplish (fill in the blank). It really isn’t a challenge to your ability to ‘do’ it by yourself, rather a question of – why?
