The Recipe for Better Collaboration: Why I Had to Unlearn My Assumptions

The Recipe for Better Collaboration: Why I Had to Unlearn My Assumptions

Have you ever really meant it?

Have you ever said “I learn just as much from my students as they learn from me”? When was the last time you said it and really, really meant it? Education has never been a one way street. This month in particular, I have learned so much.

The Assumption Trap

This month, while we wind down the 2025-26 season, prep for the 26-27 season and launch full bore into our student written summer production, a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure musical, The Untimely Adventures of Erastus Calculus, I have been hit full force with my own assumptions and perceived inadequacies. And that’s a good thing. Dealing with a new group of artists, some my students, many not, many new to theater entirely, means I have to, by necessity, change how I get the information across.

The Best Laid Plans

I thought, at the beginning of the year when we set out the outline and plan for this ambitious new show, that our path would be much like every other show. I expected to be setting up meetings during the year with my student, moving into design and production meetings, and implementing the plan in a predictable pattern as we moved closer to rehearsals. I did not plan for the enthusiasm of the people involved.

The Cake Analogy: Why Recipes Matter

Not knowing a process, learning on the fly, is great in a lot of situations. Baking without a recipe can lead to interesting tea parties, but since baking involves a lot of chemistry, you find out really quickly that baking power and baking soda don’t behave the same. You learn a lot through trial and error, but ultimately you, and maybe the helpful family and friends who agree to taste your creations, are the only ones affected by a failed cake. When you’re dealing with larger projects, like a show, concert or event, a lot of moving pieces have to come together. You aren’t the only one eating the cake, so changes in recording schedules, show dates, even entry points in a building, have to be planned well in advance. And changes involve approval from more than one entity.

And this is where I learned a tremendous amount in the past three months about how I communicate, the assumptions I make about what other people know, will do, and consider essential, and how to bridge those gaps when they occur.

Empowering the New Bakers

Assume nothing. Even if you’ve explained it a hundred times, new creatives need boundaries and clarity. Just like the cake, a recipe is necessary. Now, you may have baked that cake so many times, you don’t need to pull that recipe out and look at it anymore, but if you have a new chef in the kitchen, they will need it. Even if you’ve explained it to them a baker’s dozen times. The reality is, if you aren’t standing over their shoulder, watching them measure and pour, they might need those detailed instructions. Or they might just feel more comfortable having it close by, to reference. Empower them with the plan so when other chefs come in and want to help, your new baker has the authority to say, “no no, we need to add this before that. It says so right here.”

A First for Us

This is our first student written and produced work in almost 10 years. It's our first student produced musical. I hope it inspired other students to take that leap, be wildly daring and try something so bold people look at them like they’re crazy when they talk about it. Even Sondheim said of his early work, “we didn’t know we weren’t supposed to be able to do that”. I’ve learned, in this process, to make room for the new bakers. When we embark on this again, and as we move forward, I will absolutely have a more detailed recipe, but I will also relax a little bit on the ingredients. “You could add that, but have you thought about what that will do to your cake?”

Your Challenge

So here’s my challenge to you: Where can you make room for the ‘new bakers’ in your work? Whether it’s a student, a co-worker, or even yourself stepping into a new role, where can you hand over the recipe? Create a really great recipe, step back, and see what they create.

What’s one assumption you’ve had to unlearn recently? Share your story in Backstage AIC’s Facebook group. I’d love to learn from you too!