What do I mean?

Recently I've had a number of conversations that have reminded me there are some elements of Collaboration and Collaborative Leadership that are not 'obvious'- so we need to be more explicit. I get it, I immerse myself in the research & it took me years to begin to put words around the ideas, which are continually evolving - but not everyone is geeky in this field!

So, because I'm on a mission to grow a collaborative movement that delivers shared value - I am going to offer here some of the ideas that we continue to explore and debate in my workshops with regard to Collaboration and Collaborative Leadership.

Here is the first: An edict to collaborate doth not collaboration make!

Write it as an org value, in a mission/vision/ purpose statement, in a strategy document, in legislation/regulation, policy or whatever...but that ain't going to change anything. We have to take the time needed to consider what might be the shared interest area we want to collaborate on together.

Simple. But often I see folk going round & round in circles on this & going nowhere. Things will evolve, but we need to be agreed on what we're working on together at any given point - otherwise at best we're information sharing & more often just critiquing each other's work.