This is the first of three blogs in which we explore the things that get in the way of authentic collaboration. Click through for some simple tools to apply.
- The lack of robust collaborative processes
Finding a pathway:
A couple of years ago I was talking to a NZ client about collaboration, and he lamented “the team sits around the table and wants to collaborate, but they don’t know how or where to start”. He explained that they were keen to do things differently, especially in working across their traditional boundaries, but tended to do what they always did as they had no other guidance other than- ‘you need to collaborate’. That often left them confused and frustrated as the experience seemed to be more of the same- lots of talk, little listening, and same old solutions.
Over the next 12 months, we introduced his team to the and they applied it to a couple of projects. He was keen on how they had responded and I asked him why. He said that for the first time they had a series of steps that helped them collaborate- some guidelines and handrails so when they got together they felt confident they were tackling things differently, but not too ‘boxed in’ to a process- it gave them a roadmap and confidence with their collaboration.
- A business as usual mindset that cripples authentic collaboration
Changing the mindset:
The traditional unilateral approach to problem solving relies on expertise and “knowing the answer”.
This is sometimes best demonstrated for me in an organisation with what I call ‘the curse of the expert’ – ie “if only you knew what I know, you would agree and we could just get on with it”
This thinking can have unintended consequences as it risks closing down collaborative activities when people withdraw and stay silent when confronted with others pushing their answer.
Increasingly complex challenges demand a multilateral approach, supported by a “we” mindset, as illustrated in :
- I don’t know all the answers,
- I need some help,
- if we listen better we can tap into the diverse expertise available
- and generate solutions we couldn’t have come up with on our own
Such shifts in thinking drive new behaviours and so we do things differently when working in the collaborative space (and these new behaviours also positively impact other day to day work).