While listening to the stories of friends working in a range of institutions, such as public schools, corporations, and non-profits, I hear increasing frustration with how strategy gets determined by a small group “at the top” and rolled down. The people who implement a strategy or new program often do not have a voice to… Read more
Tag: Collaboration
Engaging Across Difference
Many of us are working hard to generate solutions to today’s complex and interrelated challenges in ways that are resilient and beneficial for all. This requires new and creative ways to bring people together who have not traditionally worked together. This is hard work. As a facilitator, I had multiple experiences with groups where not… Read more
Strengthening Community Ties and Recognizing the Benefits
In a conversation with a potential new client, I heard common concerns about their community. People working on the same issues were not talking to each other, and there was duplication of work and a sense of community fragmented. People were working hard but not having the impact they wanted. A core way to overcome… Read more
Collaborative Learning and Generous Exchange: The Heart of Networked Work
A need to network and better connect work is arising in many contexts, as people see silos that don’t connect. People whose interests and goals are similar or complementary, who could be learning together and exchanging information and resources, do not know each other or lack incentives to collaborate. In this fascinating book, The New Science of… Read more
Collective Healing: Shifting Historical Patterns That Divide Us
We live in times of extreme partisanship, increasing divisions between the rich and poor, the working class and upper class, experiences of people of color vs. whites, and disconnects of people from nature. In the US, our current political process and social media tend to amplify divisions and generate more discord rather than consensus on common ground,… Read more
How Urgency Disrupts Collaboration – Part 2
This post builds on Part 1. Here we explore the question: How can we capitalize on the full benefits of teamwork and do our best thinking, even when the process is moving quickly? Here are some tips: When things need to move fast, have pre-emptive conversations about decision-making and input. The team can agree up… Read more
How Urgency Disrupts Collaboration – Part 1
In experiences with three teams lately, I have noticed that something happens to teamwork and the commitment to collaboration when a deadline and related sense of urgency comes into the picture. As someone who thinks a lot about how we create the conditions for groups to perform at their highest collective potential, I have been… Read more
Tips for Navigating Uncertain Territory (Part 3 of a 3 Part Series)
This blog builds on previous Part 2. Tips for Navigating Uncertain Territory Here are some of the ways I coach leaders in learning how to work in this uncomfortable territory of not having a clear answer or plan: Name the discomfort – I find it helps to name how uncomfortable this feels, e.g., to convene… Read more
Navigating Uncertainty to Gain the Real Value of Collaboration, Part 2
(Click here for Part 1) For collaboration to work, one has to be willing to enter uncomfortable territory of not having the answer. People can feel it when they are asked to collaborate but the plans and answers are already determined. It feels quite different when instead of pushing an idea or agenda on the… Read more
Navigating Uncertainty to Gain the Real Value of Collaboration
Investing in Collaboration A client recently called us her “network therapists.” She works for a foundation and was helping launch a network. The foundation saw that if organizations in a region could work in a networked way they could achieve greater impact and have a stronger political voice. However, the organizations had to find the… Read more