Be masters of the paradox

The future will be knowledge and experience rich but increasingly, the current fracking bonanza not withstanding, resource and materials poor. There will be more people and organisations able to do good in the world but also more conflict about what exactly 'good' is. All these extra people with have immense potential but they will also need to be fed and housed.

So the future can be summed up as both hopeful and scary, and it is people working effectively in collaboration that will help realise the former and avoid the latter.

In order to survive and thrive in this increasingly complex and demanding future world partnerships and collaborations will need to be:

1. Pioneering pathfinders
2. Masters of the paradox
3. Challenging and disruptive
4. Influential players
5. Socially enterprising
6. Populated by a new breed of collaborative worker
7. Purposefully transformative

2. Masters of the paradox

Collaborations of the future will need to manage the following two key paradoxes:

1. The need to be both local and global.
2. The need to be both separate and together. 

Collaborations will need to utilise online technologies and other means to search out and attract the knowledge, resources and expertise needed to address the increasingly complex and challenging problems they will face; they will need a global (or at least national) reach. But in order to be relevant and make a real difference on the ground they will need a strong and locally focused presence.

The Wikipedia approach enables global expertise to come together and collaborate in creating and editing a wiki page. It also enables that expertise to splice into groupings with more local or specific interests, be these geographical or disciplinary. The social enterprise movement now has a fast growing global presence, but its success is deeply rooted in local action. The United Nations approaches its work in a very similar way.          

Collaborations will also need to tap into the unique creative power generated by their attempts to reconcile partners' separate interests, goals and perspectives with the need for unified action. Given the time and space to think and act both separately and together, partners can significantly increase the diversity and quality of ideas, so maximising opportunities for truly powerful innovation.

The Wikipedia approach enables a person to work on a page separately, without influence or interference from others. This encourages and enables the individual expression necessary for generating diverse ideas. Wikipedia also brings all contributions together in a structured and managed way that enables others to edit and comment upon a page (without interrupting an individual's work), so encouraging the collaborative group to work towards improving the overall quality of a page. Intel's approach to collaborative working (see Case Study 3 page 59) explicitly addresses the separate needs and goals of those it collaborates with, creating very clear firewalls between what is shared and worked on together and what remains unshared and separate. The dynamic discussions about where the firewalls need to be and the form they need to take can lead to novel, unexpected and flexible connections and groupings that provide the time and space for diverse ideas and approaches to emerge.


See future posts for explanations of the five aspects that remain.


For more about collaboration and partnership go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition.

Be Pioneers!

The future will be knowledge and experience rich but increasingly, the current fracking bonanza not withstanding, resource and materials poor. There will be more people and organisations able to do good in the world but also more conflict about what exactly 'good' is. All these extra people with have immense potential but they will also need to be fed and housed.

So the future can be summed up as both hopeful and scary, and it is people working effectively in collaboration that will help realise the former and avoid the latter.

In order to survive and thrive in this increasingly complex and demanding future world partnerships and collaborations will need to be:

1. Pioneering pathfinders
2. Masters of the paradox
3. Challenging and disruptive
4. Influential players
5. Socially enterprising
6. Populated by a new breed of collaborative worker
7. Purposefully transformative

1. Be pioneering pathfinders

Future partnerships will need to be not only practical problem solvers but also innovative and pioneering pathfinders. They will need to think beyond the demanding wicked issues and problems that they must address now towards those that may occur in the future. They must imagine what does not exist yet and take steps to address it.

They will need to identify, create and develop ground breaking ideas, approaches, products and services that will address the big problems to come and more effectively address those that exist now. They will need to put themselves at the cutting edge of good practice and encourage others to follow them.

Leading organisations and institutions have come together to create the UK Big Innovation Centre, a collaboration that seeks to encourage, lead and share cutting-edge creative thinking and innovation. The Australian Collabforge is a business that provides a central point for sharing and developing collaborative techniques and good practice, making the art of working in collaboration a valuable end in itself. Also, practical 'sharp-end' operational partnerships are rethinking their reasons for existing. Is a waste management partnership now evolving into an industry leading organisation with specialist expertise in processing and providing advanced resources?

These collaborations are the pioneers of pioneers, the pathfinders of pathfinders, and in becoming so they have successfully relabelled themselves as cutting edge providers of good practice and expertise rather than simply the logical and pragmatic solution to difficult problems.

How can your partnership become a pioneering pathfinder in its field? How can it positively label itself as a cutting edge provider of expertise? 

Most importantly, has your partnership asked the following questions:

• What unexpected/previously unidentifiable things can we achieve together?
• How are we going to make these things happen and how will we ensure they make a meaningful difference in the world?
• How are we going to ensure that others are willing and able to follow our lead?                    

 Look out for future posts that will explore the six remaining aspects.


For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

Don't call for action; call for a clean up!

As I read about and research the subject of collaborative and partnership working two words crop up time and time again: 'Clean up!'

Whether it be a request for people to work together to clean up a wiki page, service, system or process, or physically clean up a neighbourhood, be that of crime and/or garbage, the same words crop up again and again and again.

The cry 'clean up' appeals to a strong and instinctive urge we all have to band together and help out when something important to us is in need of care and attention.

Savvy partnerships looking to gain support and raise their profile know this. Rather than making a general 'call to action' they make a specific 'call to clean up', focusing their request upon a specific area in need of attention: the previously mentioned wiki page in need of urgent editing; a crucial service delivery system; a law in need of urgent updating and revision; a specific part of town that is in social and/or environmental decline.

A particularly interesting 'call to clean up' occurred during the public collaboration to create an Australian Bill of Rights. Members of the public were invited via a wiki to contribute their ideas about what should be included in such a Bill. As you can imagine, these were many and diverse and the time came when all the contributions needed to be edited and made legally compliant. A call went out to members of the Australian legal community to help out and 'clean up'. Enough responded to move the project forwards.

If the call to clean up is sufficiently focused and meaningful to those it is aimed at there will be a response. They will come; they will respond to an ancient need set deep within their DNA to band together and help out in times of difficulty, need or threat (or they might just be interested in helping out, doing what others are doing and seeing what develops).

So, what specific 'calls to clean up' could your collaboration make? Which ones would be most meaningful to those you are trying to attract? When would be the best times to make your calls? When would they be most likely to act as catalysts for your partnership's development and progress? 

Don't call for action; call for a clean up!


For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

Encourage, create, identify and build upon catalytic moments

The cooperation project, a collaboration between Stanford University, The Institute for the Future and Howard Rheingold has identified specific 'levers' that can be adjusted to help a collaboration effectively form and develop. To see them click here and go to page 164 of Dr Elliot's thesis (you can also see the source document by clicking on the 'Rheingold' link at the bottom of page 163):

    http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4144387/elliott_phd_pub_08.10.07.pdf

The lever that stands out for me, given my practical interest in partnership and collaboration, is the 'Threshold Lever'. For a collaboration to develop, achieve its potential and fulfil its goals it needs to be able to encourage, create, identify and build upon catalytic or transformational moments that will help it push through a threshold, like gradually breaking through an increasingly taut net, towards the next phase of its development.

These catalytic, transformational moments can be planned and strategic, like the co-ordinated delivery of a high profile, short, sharp and impactful action (for example significantly improving the environment of a specific neighbourhood over a short space of time). Or they can be opportunistic and tactical, dealing with situations that crop up within a collaboration's area of interest and activity (for example addressing a sudden and unexpected increase in social and/or health issues and problems).

These catalysts, either strategic or tactical, help a collaboration do the following: focus its resources and activity; demonstrate its usefulness; attract additional partners, expertise, resources and support (all of which are key outcomes that help a partnership push through the threshold towards its next level of activity, influence and development).

In fact, these catalytic moments are very diverse and plentiful. The trick is to plan for and/or take advantage of them. When planning or reviewing your approach to collaboration make sure you consider the following questions:

1. What do you consider to be the critical stages of your collaboration's development? What form do you think they will take and when do you think they will happen? What are you going to do to ensure you handle them effectively? (For example, will you need to ensure you attain a specific amount and quality of partners/volunteers? Will you need a certain amount of money and resources? Will you need to achieve local or national recognition and gain the support of certain key players? Will you need to achieve specific goals and outcomes? By when will all these things need to be achieved?)
2. How will you ensure that you quickly respond to and effectively deal with situations and opportunities that present themselves as the collaboration goes about its work? How can you do this in a way that is helpful to not only the collaboration and its development but also those it is seeking to help? (For example, how will you scan your environment for possible situations and opportunities? Who will do this? How will you engage with the people and populations affected? How will you ensure that the collaboration is perceived as helpful and supportive rather than opportunistic and self serving?)

For more about collaboration and partnership go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition.   

10 ways to engage essential but reluctant partners

I recently designed and delivered a workshop for a group of partnership working practitioners. One of the areas covered was how to engage essential but reluctant partners. After some discussion 10 very practical approaches were identified. 

If you are involved in the day to day practicalities of dealing with partners that are hard to reach and work with you may find some of the following helpful. 

What has worked for you? Let me know.

 

1. Market the benefits of partnership working to all partners

• Highlight the benefits to partners from their perspective.
• Make sure benefits are clear from the outset of the partnership and continually refer back to them.
• Tell the stories of how partnership working has worked/made a difference (give feedback and motivate).
• Give examples of good practice and good partnership work between members.

 

2. Gain the right partners and people from the outset

• Clarify the commitment required from partnership members at the beginning.
• Put work into gaining the names of key individuals and contacts.
• When inviting people, send a distribution list and ask if there is anyone else that should be invited.
• Get to understand the role and structure of the organisations you are working with.
• Ask people within these organisations who would best represent the partnership.

 

3. Identify barriers to engagement

• Ask! Consult! There may be physical problem i.e. they need a hearing loop.
• Encourage openness about difficulties to engage (a partner organisation might be restructuring so might not be able to attend – what other ways can they keep in touch? What is the restructuring about and what will it achieve?).
• Ask partners for their practical constraints around meetings dates/days/times/venues etc.
• Contact non-attendees after meetings to identify any issues.
• Hold quick critiques of meetings at their ends to identify issues etc.
• Invite key contacts to lunch to help identify barriers.
• Follow-up by phone if you suspect any bad feeling/concerns.
• Have non-judgemental discussions re. barriers.
• Survey partners to find out what stops them from being engaged (create an incentive to complete this survey to enhance its success/effectiveness).
• Do a market analysis style questionnaire.
• Ask them why they do not come – can you fit in with their needs?
• Follow-up if they do not come – phone call, find out why? Can you make it easier for them to come (give them dates of the next meeting etc.)? Can you give them a different role e.g., observer if they do not have time to participate?

 

4. Gain a better understanding of partners’ ways of working

• Work/job shadowing and swapping between partners.
• Ask if partners could be convinced of the merits of a study tour to find out how partners work, their issues and how they address them.
• Secondments to partner organisations.
• Shadowing may lead to improved understanding.
• Establish how organisations work at the beginning of the partnership – identify differences and agree a way of working that either recognises and embraces the differences or agrees on one way of working.
• Include dialogue at meetings about how partners work and what they want from the partnership.

 

5. Ensure that capacity concerns of partners are listened to and provide reassurance that the partnership will be flexible in its expectations

• Choose a skilled chairman
• Have a clear, expected (and agreed) remit for the input expected from each partner.
• Continually communicate and be flexible in response to changing circumstances.
• Accept that not all partners need to agree/participate before the partnership can move forward.

 

6. Understand the needs and limitations of partners

• Invite prospective partners to give a talk on their organisational limitations and needs.
• Maybe allocate partners a 10-minute slot at meetings to say what their organisation does, its limitations etc. This would improve mutual understanding.

 

7. Inform, value and involve partners

• Give timely information and give feedback.
• Information sharing should be relevant to the partnership – perhaps by a short newsletter or e-mail.
• Have a problem solving outdoor pursuit weekend/day.
• Issue minutes promptly.
• Get notes/action points from meetings out shortly after the meeting – do not wait until planning the next meeting.
• Engage in dialogue.
• Have a Christmas (or other special event) meal together.
• “Cherish” partners.
• Ask partners, either in or out of a meeting, what they need, want, do not want?
• Survey employees at all levels within the organisation to find out their understanding of the partnership’s purpose.

 

8. Ensure continuity of contact during phases of change

• Communicate with all stakeholders at all stages.
• In times of change focus on partnership outcomes and review where contacts should be.
• Have a nominated co-ordinator to review the list of contacts and circulate it to others as necessary.
• Use team/organisational e-mails not individual ones within organisations.
• Maybe have a rota of people attending from each partner organisation. Need only be 2 (if possible), this allows for extra input, sharing of workload and continuity if one leaves.
• Create a week’s calendar with ongoing entries and appointments to assure continuity of contact regardless of individuals involved.

 

9. Engage and gain the understanding of top management

• Invite top management to do some ‘hands on stuff’ so that they realise what is going on.
• Let top level management have all the information to keep them up to speed with partnership activities.

 

10. Engage all levels (and types) of partner organisations and know that this has been achieved?

• Take issues to different forums to ensure buy in; some partners and individuals may have access to some groups and not others.
• Survey organisations to gauge awareness.
• Survey employees at all levels within the organisation to find out their understanding of the partnership’s purpose.
• If a representative agrees something at a meeting follow up to confirm.
• Have high level commitment and contact in the partners’ organisations (to send a strong positive message through the rest of the partners’ organisations).
• Improve communication between partners and also inside partner organisations.
• Find out how partners cascade actions within their organisations.
• Get different representatives from partner organisations to take it in turns to come to meetings, so engaging different employees from different levels in the organisation.
• Be aware of and circulate the organisational charts of partner organisations.
• Ask how partners are informing their organisations.

 

 

For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

The 3 C's of partnership working

Co-ordinate

Cooperate

Collaborate

I have been reading the work of Dr Mark Elliott. He has lots of very interesting stuff to say about the future of collaboration and more specifically about how mass global collaboration can be effectively realised. Have a look at his website:

http://collabforge.com/stigmergic-collaboration-theoretical-framework-mass-collaboration

One of the very simple but insightful observations he makes is about  how collaboration differs from cooperation. Collaboration involves creativity and innovation and cooperation does not.

Think about people coming together to form a partnership of some kind. Firstly they have to co-ordinate themselves and their resources so that they can be effectively called upon and combined. It is about getting the right people and resources in the right place at the right time.

The next step is to create systems and processes, some rules of the partnership game, that can be used to ensure the various partners can cooperate efficiently. It is about the mechanics of agreeing what will happen, when it will happen, how it will happen and who will do it. 

When these first two stages have been achieved the partnership can build upon them and work towards true creative collaboration. They can do this by working hard at making the relationships between partners open, honest, tolerant and even welcoming of differing perspectives and the tensions these generate. As the relationships develop so too does the partnership's ability to harvest innovative ideas from the creative tensions increasingly being generated between people. The interplay of conflicting views becomes the source of the partnership's creative energy.

Think about the production of an opera or musical. It will go through each of the above phases: the company will come together; it will learn the details and rules of the work; it will then, if the production is going to be any good, explore and encourage differing approaches and interpretations and eventually select those most suited to its overall vision and goals.

If you are working in a partnership consider the following questions:

• Are you absolutely sure you have all the people and resources available to you that you need?
• Do you really know the rules of your particular partnership game? Does everyone know what they are?
• Are you ready and willing to be honest with others?
• Are you ready and willing to encourage others to be honest with you? 
• Are you ready and willing to be not only tolerant but also welcoming of others' views and ideas?       

    

For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

Using music to turn conflict into manageable and helpful paradoxes

The complex issues, problems and paradoxes at the heart of modern life cannot be solved without effective collaboration, and the musical world is very good at it!

Visualise a symphony orchestra. Now imagine the complex collaboration needed to form, maintain and develop it. Think about the additional and intense collaboration needed during its performances.

Now consider how much more difficult it would be to achieve all of this within an environment of extreme uncertainty, conflict and attrition.

Surely the lessons learnt whilst achieving this would be of immense value to all of us, whatever our walk of life.

My interests in music, creativity and collaborative working do not often come together so obviously and dramatically as they did when I viewed this short presentation by Paul MacAlindin, Music Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq:

Paul MacAlindin youtube presentation

He talks about his collaboration with others to form and develop the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. At the heart of his talk is an exploration of the ability of musical collaboration to take conflicts and turn them into paradoxes that can be managed to create positive and valuable results.

It has given me plenty to reflect upon as I continue to develop my understanding of the complex world of collaborative working. I hope it does the same for you.

Charles

For more about collaboration go to: Sleeping-with-the-Enemy-Achieving-Collaborative-Success-2nd-Edition

To see more about music and creativity go to: Creativity-in-the-Air-50-Ways-Music-Can-Make-You-More-Creative

https://www.amazon.com/author/charlesmlines