Perhaps it’s always a ‘we’ and never a ‘me.’ You only get to decide who your ‘we’ is. If your ‘we’ is a software program, you lose nearly all of your authorship. If, on the other hand, your ‘we’ is a hand-picked team of people with complementary talents, the ‘I’ is an unquestionably beneficial sacrifice.
Most popular songs are a result of curated collaboration. The best books arise from an author-editor-publisher interaction. These final products rarely reflect the original works born in the brain of the first contributor. They require the brilliance of many to exist in their amazing final form.
Teams don’t always consist of a traditional gathering of collaborators assembled to coordinate a project. Sometimes teams are comprised of invisible and unexpected influencers… the comment your grandfather made when you were 12 years old that finally makes sense at 42… the lyric that your bass player added to the song after a night of heavy partying… the plot twist your editor challenged as “too cliché” before your final rewrite… the suggestion your clinical supervisor offered before you entered a delicate therapy session.
With each contribution, the ‘I’ becomes more of a ‘we.’ In a world that is soon to be dominated by artificial intelligence, let’s not forget how to curate our own teammates. Keep your authorship and choose your co-authors wisely.
