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John Donne once said：“No man is an island，entire of itself；every man is a piece of the continent，a part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea，Europe is the less，as well as if promontory were，as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were.”（Donne，1970）.Marx claims that human essence is no abstraction inherent in each single individual，in its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations.Essence can be comprehended only as“genus”，as an internal，dumb generality which naturally unites the many individuals（Marx，1845）.This indicates the significance of collective and collaboration.With the perspective of philosophy，there shall be no human individual acting as an isolated entity in society，which first exists apart from everybody else and is subsequently moulded by society，or influenced by the social environment.Only by taking part in the collective production process，striving alongside everyone else to produce what we all require，can an individual become a truly human.Therefore，collaboration within people appears to be an inevitable topic of human society.Putting collective into the background of historical materialism，exploring the identifying features of collectives could be of great significance.

Collaboration happens every day and everywhere.I had experienced a collaboration with my PACE group in the module of performance and collaborative enterprise.As a collective，we intend to complete a creative process by exploring the term‘collaboration，both artistically and socially，using words such as relationships，identity，interaction，communication to describe our works.We made the collaboration a practice-led-research and undertook a case-study of ourselves，holding regular meetings based on both social and artistic collaboration，including weekly date nights and weekly group devising sessions，as well as tracking down our individual journeys.We had investigated a series of questions around collaboration and concluded respective answers towards the identifying features of creative collectives.For me，the answer would fundamentally be diversity，along with dialogue，open mindedness and selfexploration at the same time.

Creativity requires thinking cross boundaries between different ways of thinking.Creative individuals have the ability to hold different and contradictory impulses in equilibrium，and it is not only the individual's task to combine different thinking styles and process，but also the mission of groups and teams of people working together（Bilton，2007）.However，‘a basic framework of mutual understanding，agreement and trust makes it easier to disagree and question.But when teams become too familiar with each other，they tip over into routinized habits of thought and assumptions which are rarely questioned.The team starts to drift towards like-mindedness and‘groupthink，，smoothing out the internal diversity and creative tension on which innovative processes depend.，（Bilton C，2007，p.33）Experiments indicates that the more esprit de corps in the group，the greater the likelihood that groupthink will result in bad decisions（Sawyer，R，2008）.Above statements illuminate the essentiality of diversity in collective，because of the fact that challenge will be lost and group flow will fade away if group members become too familiar with too much conformity.Since creativity of collective could be reduced due to the integration during collaboration，to avoid such situation and to keep the creativity and vitality of collaboration，diversity should be considered as an important issue.

There were five collaborators in our group，three Chinese girls：me，Suika and Ivy，and two British girls：Christina and Holly.Different races and cultural backgrounds of members make our group an intercultural collective.Diversity in our case has been related to culture，examined in terms of thinking style，way of speaking，lifestyles，sense of worth，knowledge and external behaviors，sometimes even social and political perspectives.At the modern stage，culture describes a general process of intellectual，spiritual and aesthetic development and the works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity，indicating a particular way of life（Raymond Williams，1976）.Culture conveys the intrinsic qualities of human's life and minds，diversity of different culture affects collective broader and deeper.Collaborators in our team were born and grew up in total different environment，both geographically and humanistically，having different histories and tradition，and having been educated in different ways.Differences of culture emerge when we read，think and express，and have a influence on the documentation we choose，the method we use to arrange and organize，the consideration we make，etc.As a matter of fact，to the whole group，intercultural diversity seems to be positive and beneficial，since it's rooted in the intrinsic nature of humanity，familiarity could hardly assimilate ideas and minds.And the combination of eastern and western thoughts added more sparkling elements to our project.When we tried to find out what kind of final performance we are going to present at the end of the module process，what content should be included or excluded，which piece of work should be assigned to which person，diversity of each member were taken into consideration.For example，Holly and Christina came up with the idea of perform with no much speak or talk，which more like a western dumb show，while I brought forward the idea of drawing a hand on the floor as a stage decoration，which relating to concept of“the five elements”in traditional Chinese philosophy and eastern palmistry.Diversity had made contribution to our creative achievement both artistically and socially，also gave brand new feelings to each person.

Of course，everything could be a double-edged sword.When too much specialization is emphasized to keep diversity，it could sometimes cause confliction or confusion，and it's easy to make things messy.Situation like some people spend too much time planning their own actions and not enough time listening and observing others（Sawyer，R.Keith，2008）occurred.And our project plan had been made too complicated so that all of us felt like out of direction.How do we maintain a diversity of ideas to make collaboration more effective while ensuring a balance between individual input and group understanding appeared to be a difficulty in our collaboration.Nevertheless，there had never occurred any negative arguments during our collaboration.Collaborators in our group embraced diversity with appropriate dialogue and open mindedness.

‘In the process of collective participation，people won't trust each other in the beginning，but if they see the importance of the dialogue，they will work with it，since dialogue is a harmony of the individual and the collective，in which the whole constantly moves towards coherence，（Bohm，David，1996：30-32）.When the members of our group gathered together at the first time，we were not familiar to each other and felt a little awkward.But we broke the invisible barrier and built up trust soon with dialogue.In our every week date night，we talked，chatted，ate，played，got to know each other better and became more intimate.We enhanced mutual understanding of each other's personality with respect，as well as family backgrounds，emotional experience，avocation，etc.Not only in social contact as individuals，but also in study and co-working as a collective，we understood the specialities and hobbies of each other deeper with dialogue，and applied the discoveries to practice.For example，we discovered that Holly and Christina have had a history of stage performance since undergraduate，and they are familiar with the stage technical stuff such as lighting design and stage construct setting，so they were in charge of the stage techniques in our final performance.And Suika，Ivy and me took tasks of wishing wall，photos and quotations respectively based on our own interests.Dialogue allows us to develop cohesion of the collective and make each person's speciality organically involved into the collective.

Of course，there is not only positive side of dialogue.We became aware of that dialogue may become frustrating sometimes and someone may become dominant.And that's why Holly and Christina had always kept asking us to remind or interrupt them if they were being too dominating throughout the whole process of collaboration.Because of the linguistic disfluency，the Chinese collaborators didn't talk as much and freely as the two native members did，so the British members tried to hold back now and then，and the Chinese members tried to be more active and talkative all the way.Creative teams require active managerial involvement，not through controlling and leading a process of innovation directly，but through monitoring the connection and relationship supporting the work indirectly.And managers should build a collective culture where individuals care about the bigger picture beyond personal own task and function（Bilton，2007：36-37）.Therefore，everyone in our collective had made attempt to be an active manager in dialogue.

Also，good collaboration environments can be identified by a questioning dialogue.An example where I have found this to be the case in our process is when we asked ourselves whether to build an e-journal would be appropriate and realizable to fill the documentation，and whether our proposed project is being too stuffed so far with too many ideas collected from members.After negotiation and practical trial，we found out that making an e-journal was not suitable，so we passed the idea and slimmed down the content of project a bit.Questioning dialogue allows us to check the possibility and potentiality of work，helping the collective to make progress better.

During the process of communication and interaction of a team，open mindedness is relate to the way in which members incorporates the beliefs that others should be free to express their views and that the value of others'knowledge should be recognised（Tjosvold ＆ Poon，1998）.This had been perfectly applied to our collaboration.When we were planning our final performance，we proposed our opinions freely，sharing and exchanging with each other，getting inspired from different perspectives，comparing，discussing，negotiating，and trying to approach the perfect outcome.Apart from these topics，I also consider the specific ways of showing open mindedness as tolerance and respect.

One of the British members in our group，Christina，mentioned about the way the Chinese members spelling her name in her personal diary of collaboration，which made me think a lot.The way we speak and write result directly from the way we think and judge，reflecting cultural features through linguistic expression.Different ways of spelling her name indicate the cultural difference of us，and Christina just accepted it after realizing it.Maybe the Chinese members'spelling of her name in English is not correct，but Christina did not mind it much and treated it naturally.Another example is that when we having lunch together，the British members chose sandwiches，very British style ones，cold and have no much smell.While the Chinese members chose heated dishes which have smell.Different options of food reflect different food-eating habits of culture，which were also respected and received by the group members.The most surprising creative insights always result from connections among different bodies of knowledge（Johanssen，2006）.To get the insights，an open mindedness of difference within different bodies should be adopted.Relationships involving trust，respect and support are important to the processes of collaboration and to the well-being of collaborators（Barbour，et al：2007：52）.All these factors as well as comprehension and tolerance have made our collaboration running more smoothly and harmoniously.

“You know，like I don't want to be nosy，and we all got our reasons for doing what we do with our lives，but I wonder everybody here on the block wonders-why are you here？”（Lampel，Shamsie and Lant，2011）.This sentence raises my interest and makes me think about some fundamental themes of human being.Why we are here？What are we going to do？How do we identify ourselves in this world？

The process of devising is about the fragmented experience of understanding ourselves，our culture and the world we inhabit（Oddey：1994：1）.At the end of our collaboration，I asked myself a question：what will stands out as a personal achievement in the process？The answer turns out to be self-exploration.

There was a task in our collaboration-to turn right，then left，then right，then left again until we cannot go any further.We are then to stop where we are and to reflect on the place we have ended up in，to see what is around us，what do we see，think，and how do we feel.In this task，after following the instructions，I found myself standing in front of a mirror in a room.I saw into the mirror and looked at the inverted image of myself，thinking about the meaning of existence and the relationship between a person and the world.I think that the purpose of living in this big world，to me，is to find myself，to discover myself，to meet with myself.Being an individual among the numerous living beings，I just found out what I really care about and seek for has nothing to do with success，as people usually say，but to see the miracle of life.And this reminded me of the first session in our PACE module.We were sitting around a table，talking about our understanding of life，success and happiness.It was on that session where we got the first impression of each other.We also wrote down several key words of our understanding of collaboration on a big piece of paper.This experience together with another one，when we were doing a workshop of organizing objects into different shapes on the floor with our tutor，had increased the awareness of individual personalities as well as relationship between individuals and collectives.Inside exploration is more focused from collaboration.

There is a new word created recently as“experience deficientian”，referring to people who lack experience，whatever the experience would be，or maybe of anything.I consider myself as one of the“experience deficientian”，as my acquaintance and knowledge are very limited.World is too big and life is too complex，endless experience of people various.In a collaboration，“the projects depend on each other in order to live on as collective memories with the people who took part，and the ones to whom the stories are told.”（Lars，B.L：2006，183）.Collaboration allows me to obtain different，brand new experience from others by communicating and sharing，which is especially beneficial to my self-filling.Also，by co-working with the collective，I have learned to speak and act more cautiously and to behave myself when communicate with people from different backgrounds.Task of collaboration enlightened me about the relationship between myself and the world.

From the collaboration I had with the PACE group，I understand group work differently in ways of binary and parallel understanding of collective and individual.The identifying features of creative collective are considered as diversity，dialogue，open mindedness and external and internal exploration.In our collective，insights and opinions from individuals with different views gathered organically，encouraging the passion of communication and interaction，improving productivity and increasing knowledge creation capability of collaboration.The specific collaborative process shaped by our different experiences and cultural，social and artistic backgrounds，has made me aware of the importance of diversity and dialogue.In brief，the core issue of keeping diversity in collaboration is to seek common ground and reserve differences.Differences need to be recognized and accepted with an open mindedness.Although challenges of co-working such as keeping a balance of ideas and participation，developing effectiveness of working，or seeking for more potentiality of creativity emerge now and then during collaboration，positive outcomes as broadening one's horizon，or increasing the dynamics and depth of observing and experiencing life could be harvested.As a concern of individual，personal achievements such as self-identification，self-exploration and self-enrichment could be generated from collaboration，gaining understanding not only about the collective，but also the person himself.

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