Some time ago, I learned that to win, it isn’t necessary that someone loses. That simple and fundamental idea that many have read in self-help books of self has greatly influenced the way in which our team makes strategic decisions in relation to our studio. Fortunately, it is also present in the way our team relates with each other, with our clients, and with our partners who collaborate and participate in our projects. Although we are aware that competition exists, we concentrate our energy on exceeding our own expectations, and accomplishing our own goals, rather than focusing on others on our same path. If this way of thinking and acting has positively influenced the way our team has grown and developed, why not share our experience with our fellow colleagues? How would it be if instead of possessively guarding what we know (or what we think we know), we share our knowledge and accept our ignorance with others in the same discipline?
A great part of what we do comes out of learning experiences, the successes, and the failures that have resulted from the creativity and boldness, not from the safe choice or from having absolute knowledge.
With this premise, several years ago we began to approach other professionals in the Chilean architectural lighting community. Gradually, upon sharing our concerns and desires, we built a relationship with trust and mutual respect that led to the formation of a professional association (DIA) focused on professional development and promotion of architectural lighting.
It was not long before this same spirit motivated us as a local association to open the conversation beyond political borders and initiate a dialogue with other lighting designers from Latin America. We share many of the same conditions, economic, regulatory and cultural, that affect our profession. On the same token, we also share the desire to integrate into an open market that enhances the development of lighting in each of our countries.
Thus a few years ago, we organized the first Latin American Conference on Lighting Design, 2010, (EILD) in Valparaiso. Over 200 professionals from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Uruguay attended the conference. For three days they shared their expertise and their expectations regarding the development of the profession in our region. The positive feedback from the participants of this conference and the interest aroused in those who were unable to attend resulted in the decision of the Latin American community to coordinate another opportunity to meet. In October this year, the conference will take place in the city of Queretaro, Mexico to celebrate EILD 2012, taking a few more steps forward towards building a professional community that responds to cultural values that set us apart and better position us on a global scale.
On a personal level, these initiatives certainly give a deeper meaning to the work I do. Beyond the difficulties and headaches that such group activities can cause, I enriched my life. I have come to think up I can become a better person.
Many times however, I have felt that the idea of sharing, collaborating, or integrating does not gone beyond a statement of intent, and does not result in anything concrete, tangible, or capable of impacting the way we develop our work.
If partnering or collaborating with other professionals generates learning and transformative opportunities, perhaps the mechanism or the platform to achieve this result requires more risk and commitment.
To prove this point, we began a collaboration with a professional team, Limarí Lighting Design. Without any specific need rather just for the experience, we are developing a lighting project together. Moreover, the project is interesting because of the quality of the architecture, geographical location, and its cultural significance. The company is made up of two professional teams sharing the learning path based on the belief that everyone is professionally capable and that this quality does not stem from the technical knowledge or a commercial formula, but rather from the ability to be open, to discover and create constantly.
For the first time in our country to my knowledge, two offices with different personalities, styles and methods challenge the norm, challenge conventions and paradigms about “competition” or “professional jealousy”, working together.
No tengo la menor idea acerca de dónde nos llevará esta experiencia, pero estoy seguro de que será un lugar mejor que el que conocemos hasta ahora y puedo confesar después de algunas semanas de trabajo, donde no han faltado las descoordinaciones y diferencias, que he sentido como van diluyéndose los bordes que diferencian las dos oficinas al tiempo que va consolidándose un solo equipo que trabaja generosa y humildemente.
I do not know where this experience will take us or how it will end, but I’m sure it will be better than what we know so far. I can confess after various weeks of work, without lack of differences, I felt the once-rigid edges starting to disappear. The two offices are now harmoniously working together, consolidated into one humble team.
