Collaboration 101 Faster Alone, Farther Together

1. Collaboration 101Faster Alone, Farther Together Some things That Nonprofit Organizations Interested in Collaboration Might Find Helpful Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families Edmonton, February 18, 2010 Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

2. Helping citizens work and learn together across sectors to build caring, prosperous and healthy communities. For more information on Tamarack, see our website at www.tamarackcommunity.ca. Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

3. Introduce concepts and lenses that will create ‘shared’ language for participants. Share patterns and themes that may ‘reduce your learning curve’ for participants. Answer questions you might have. Today “You don't see something until you have the right metaphor to let you perceive it.” Thomas Kuhn “Believing is seeing.” Karl Weick Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

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5. Definition • Collabra (Latin) – to strive or labor together. Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

6. The Working Together Continuum Looser Tighter Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Environment

7. The Simple Case Silos: Fractured responses lead to fractured solutions lead to fractured outcomes. Collaboration: operate on the premise that ‘joined up problems’ require ‘joined up solutions’ Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

8. Phases of Collaboration Maturity Phase Mobilization Phase Exploitation Phase Creative Destruction Source: http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides9.html Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

9. From Lifecycle to Cecile in Collaborative Efforts Source: http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides9.html The Performance Loop The Renewal Loop Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

10. Creative Leadership Strategic Management Maturity Phase Exploration Phase Development Phase Creative Destruction/ Initiation Phase Entrepreneurial Leadership Charismatic Leadership Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

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12. Creative Leadership Strategic Management Chronic Disaster Trap Maturity Phase Exploration Phase Rigidity Trap Scarcity Trap Development Phase Creative Destruction/ Initiation Parasitic Trap Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Charismatic Leadership Entrepreneurial Leadership

13. Four Transitional Traps Transitional Traps in Collaborative Efforts Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

14. Exercise Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

15. In which areas of the ‘eco-cycle’ do you feel most comfortable and energized? Least comfortable and energized? Describe a project or activity that illustrates each answer. Preferences! Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

16. Eight Big Ideas Form Versus Essence: the essence of working collaboratively is not the same as the form or manifestation of that essence at any point in time. The Importance of Entire Eco-Cycle: the performance and renewal phases are important to the overall health of the collaborative effort. Resilient – Versus Sustainable – Collaborative Efforts: the importance of continually adapting – rather than sustaining – the manifestation of the collaboration to reflect the demands of different phases and internal and external changes. Robust Collaborative: not all collaborative efforts are robust enough to make it through the entire eco-cycle. The challenge is to improve the probabilities of their evolution, but to ‘let go’ when necessary in order to release energy for new manifestations. Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

17. Seven Big Ideas continued • Situational Leadership: the need to use leadership styles and culture that ‘fit’ the unique phase or area of work. • Patch Dynamics: collaborative efforts are more resilient when they are partly operating in all four phases or area of the eco-cycle. • Enabling Environment: the opportunity to strengthen the policy and investment environment to appropriately support all four phases of the eco-cycle. • Collaboration if necessary – but necessarily collaboration: sometimes co-existence and competition is more productive than collaboration. Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

18. Reflection Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

19. Think (5 minutes, alone) What ‘aha’s’ did you have today? What new questions emerge? What's one thing that you think you might do differently in your work? Pair & Share (10 minutes) Find a colleague and take a few minutes to share your responses with them. Think, Pair, Share Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

20. Collaboration Resources Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

21. Brenda Zimmerman. From Lifecycle to Cecile http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides9.html Eco-Cycle Lenses Crisis & Renewal. David Hurst The Upside of Down. Thomas Homer-Dixon Getting to Maybe. Frances Wesley Brenda Zimmerman Michael Quinn Patton Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement