Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success: 5th Edition Now Available at Amazon

'An excellent book that outlines the value and benefit of collaborative working...' 

This book is about collaborative and partnership working best practice. It will help you achieve the following:

• Realise the potential of partnerships and collaborations;
• Engage effectively with hard-to-reach stakeholders;
• Lead partnerships and collaborations effectively;
• Work well with competitors;
• Identify differing organisational cultures and manage the interactions between them;
• Manage partnership discussions effectively;
• Encourage partnerships and collaborations to develop and move forward;
• Deal effectively with the conflicting demands that lie at the heart of collaborative efforts;
• Evaluate partnership processes and outcomes;
• Appreciate and use the four principles that underpin effective collaborative working.

As well as including a chapter entitled 'Why Should the Devil Have All the Best Collaborations?', which explores what we can learn from the way criminals collaborate, the 5th edition offers two new chapters and a new appendix.

The first new chapter explores the concept of trading styles and how they evolve during the life of a collaboration. The second new chapter offers six principles for encouraging and gaining willing and able involvement from key partners and other stakeholders.

The new appendix offers some of the most popular posts from the author's 'Cutting Edge Partnerships' blog. 

'Sleeping with the Enemy' is full of tools, techniques and approaches that you can apply to your day-to-day collaborative activities, and many of the book's ideas are explained through the use of practical examples and short case studies. If you need to set up, maintain and develop a partnership or any other collaborative effort, this book is an indispensable and insightful companion.

To read more and get the book click here.
Click here to go to the Amazon UK site. 

Bite-size piece from the new 5th edition of 'Sleeping with the Enemy': take risks and invest in apparent side issues

The Eugene Bell Foundation and other NGOs dedicated to eradicating TB from the world are taking the risk of collaborating with the North Korean Government, which is conventionally seen as untrustworthy and unreliable. They are investing considerable time and resources into helping the NK Government treat and cure those of its citizens who have the disease. This task is made even more challenging by the fact that many people are infected with a drug resistant strain.

The gamble of collaborating with the North Korean Government has paid off. All the partners involved have been able to co-ordinate effectively and the initiative has cured 70% of the patients it has treated.

Given the massive size of the above health problem, investing additional time in encouraging a small group of Harvard Undergraduates to raise $5000 to treat one North Korean patient seems laudable but somewhat insignificant (apart from to the patient concerned of course). However, encouraging this type of initiative, although seemingly insignificant within the greater scheme of things, will eventually help achieve the long-term aims of the NGOs and their North Korean partners. This is for two main reasons: 1. it makes the problem immediate, personal and memorable; 2. it raises awareness of the issues amongst (and encourages involvement from) those who are most likely to become valuable advocates and donors or become much needed aid workers and medical staff.


The 5th edition will be available at Amazon within the next few weeks.  

Bite-size piece from the new 5th edition of 'Sleeping with the Enemy': challenge taboo triangles

The anti-apartheid movement gained significant ground when Nelson Mandela and PW Botha challenged the taboo triangle involving themselves and the South African Government. For a very long time Mandela's relationship with the Government of South Africa was faceless and impersonal: the state arrested him, passed judgement on him, imprisoned him and continuously endeavoured to control his life and that of his followers and supporters. As soon as another relationship was added, creating a triangle between Mandela, the State and a human representative of the State in the form of President Botha, trust was increased. Mandela and Botha were able to use these reinforced foundations of trust to influence the Government of South Africa towards majority rule.

 

Staying with South Africa, when President Mandela created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission he challenged the taboo triangle formed by bringing together the State, the victims of apartheid and those who had committed crimes against these victims and violated their human rights. This state sanctioned, very open, emotional and difficult dialogue was crucial for building trust and cooperation between historically opposed communities and enabling the establishment of an effective democracy through which the benefits of economic and social development could be realised.


The 5th edition will be available at Amazon within the next few weeks.  

Bite-size piece from the new 5th edition of 'Sleeping with the Enemy': take a leap of faith

Faith-based organisations, such as the Vatican and the Church of England, have taken a leap of faith and begun collaborating with some very unexpected bedfellows: international and national mining companies. Despite having very different outlooks and speaking very different languages, these two groupings have begun a dialogue which is bringing them together under the banner of environmental and social protection and development. Faith-based organisations and big business mining coming together for joint reflection days and senior church officials visiting mines and taking an interest in their workings would have been thought impossible or unlikely previous to this leap of faith, which is helping gradually change the role of mining companies from one of extraction to one of development partner.




The 5th edition will be available at Amazon within the next few weeks.  

Bite-size piece from the new 5th edition of 'Sleeping with the Enemy': creating triangles of trust and influence

The British Council consistently employs a strategy of creating ever-increasing triangles of trust and influence. Whatever the focus of their work, and whatever the country, they work hard at creating new relationship triangles between themselves, their original national and regional partners and those their network of partners introduce or suggest to them. A particularly noteworthy example is a 'Justice for All' programme in Uganda, where the British Council's initial national and regional authority partners introduced the British Council to the large number of influential traditional tribal rulers. This created triangles of influence and trust between the Council, the Nigerian authorities and traditional tribes. It was these traditional tribal leaders that most probably played a lead role in introducing the British Council to the semi-formal voluntary police forces and vigilante groups operating at local levels. This created yet another triangle of influence and trust between the British Council, the tribal leaders and the self-appointed semi-formal police and vigilante groups. For a project focused upon creating an environment where 'justice for all' can be a reality, this type of triangular relationship is of immense value.


The 5th edition will be available at Amazon within the next few weeks.