Bite-size pieces: the golden chain

 
 
 
'A partnership’s ‘Golden Chain’ consists of those activities that when linked or combined can be seen to be both supporting and leading clearly in the direction of a partnership’s high level aspirational outcomes. A clearly observable, uncluttered golden chain of activities indicates that a partnership’s activities are well chosen and aligned with its overall purpose.'


From Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success:
          

For more details click here.

Bite-size pieces: avoid slipping away...

'One way to avoid benefits slipping away through organisational cracks is for a partnership to focus on the legacy of learning (not just outputs and benefits) it will leave behind. The key lessons that contributed to a partnership’s success need to be recorded and accompany the more tangible outputs and benefits presented to those that follow.'

From Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success:                                                       
(available now)
          

For more details click here.

Fourth Edition of 'Sleeping with the Enemy' now out!

The Fourth Edition includes a new extended chapter 'Why should The Devil Have All The Best Collaborations?', which explores what we can learn from the way criminals collaborate.


Here is an overview of the Fourth Edition's  Content:

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

  

This book is about collaborative and partnership working best practice. It describes how to:

• achieve 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. 

The 4th edition includes a chapter entitled 'Why Should The Devil Have All The Best Collaborations?', which explores what we can learn from the way criminals collaborate. 

  

'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.

Bite-size pieces: carousel!

'Looking far and wide for potential partners can also avoid one of the great enemies of creative partnership working: the Carousel Syndrome. This describes the situation where the same old faces turn up to every new partnership initiative dealing with a particular issue or locality. This can lead to the same old approaches and ideas being recycled into new contexts. It is true that what has worked before might well work again, but without the energising and transforming contributions of new perspectives, second hand solutions are unlikely to provide complete answers to the new challenges faced by new partnerships.'





From Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success:
          4th Edition                                      

For more details click here

 

 

The murderers next door

Here is another telling example, this time from a remote region of Romania (Maramures), which illustrates how disempowering local people can have disastrous effects.

When local people had control of the system for dealing with land disputes everything worked fairly well. But things worked less well when central government took control: there were, quite literally, deadly consequences.

This shows,once again, that giving control and collaborating rather than taking control and enforcing is often the most effective option, especially where limited but easily taken and hard to police resources are concerned.

The Guardian: The Murderers Next Door

Bite-size pieces: lead and follow; yes and also

'To live, work and lead in this modern world we need to address challenging and complex paradoxes. We need results now and we need to build for the future. We need to lead and to follow. We need to be secretive and open and honest. Partnership working offers a way of addressing these complex paradoxes. This is because it demands a new, richer way of thinking that is based upon ‘yes and also’ rather than ‘yes or no’. Partnership working demands that we address both sides of a paradox by sharing and exploiting our diverse perceptions and resources.'






From Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success:
          4th Edition                                      

 

For more details click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music collaborating for health

Music and collaborative working come together once again: 

Arts in Hospitals

This project promises to open up a rich seam of information about how creative collaborations between very diverse cultures and sectors form, develop and begin achieving things.

Hats off to the open-minded innovators driving it forward!