Collaboration 201 Faster Alone, Farther Together Going the First Steps Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families Edmonton, May 25, 2010 Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Today Introduce key concepts, lenses and evidence related to inter-agency collaboration. Begin creating a broad description for collaboration in your sector. Experience tools used in the important ‘exploration’ phase. Develop a ‘draft intent’ statement for collaboration. Identify and explore emerging questions. ? ? ? Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

Collaboration 101 Some Basics

Find a Colleague Think (5 minutes, alone) What are three hopes about collaboration? Three fears? Pair (10 minutes together) Listen to your colleague. Write down ONE idea per ‘sticky pad’ sheet (a total of six). Switch Roles Share Get ready to share with the group.

Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Definition Co’labore (Latin) – to strive or labor together. Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

The Working Together Continuum Looser Tighter Compete Co-exist Consult Cooperate Coordinate Collaborate Merge Purpose Members Structure & Process Communicate Resources Environment Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

The Working Together Continuum Compete: compete for limited clients, staff, resources, etc. Co-exist: work in isolation and without affecting others. Consult: share information and ideas. Cooperate: carry out some join independent projects. Coordinate: align organizational activities with others. Collaborate: share decision-making, risk and rewards.

The Purpose What are the outcomes we are trying to achieve through our work? Perspectives Clients Agency Manager Agency Line Worker Funder/Contractor Other

The Possibilities In what ways can we ‘collaborate’ to achieve these outcomes?

Common Areas for Inter-Agency Collaboration Policy & Advocacy Changing public policies or behaviors in big systems related to a common issue. Service delivery. Planning and delivering services to clients (e.g. outreach, intake, referrals, services, evaluation). Back Office system consolidation. Focus on improving effectiveness or efficiency of issues like HR or IT or space. Social marketing or awareness campaigns. Changing behaviors of people (e.g. anti-smoking) or raising awareness (e.g. poverty).

Benefit-Cost of Collaboration Possible Benefits Access resources Share resources. Reduce costs. Streamline services. Tap into diverse perspectives and networks for new or better service. Protect programming. Likely Costs Time & resources intensive. Reconciling self-interest and group interest. Power imbalances. Inequitable benefits. Unpredictable.

Success Factors Genuine motivation to collaborate. The right people & organizations (e.g. knowledge, authority, diversity, skills) Alignment of personal and organizational interests. Trustful relationships. Supportive environment (credibility of players, etc.). Power Issues addressed head on. Appropriate, clear, responsive structure and process. Effective (in)formal communication. Coordination capacity (e.g. people, financial resources). Progress

The Journey and Outcomes Collaboration 101 The Journey and Outcomes

Renewal Conservation Creative Destruction Exploitation The birth, growth, destruction and renewal of a forest Renewal Conservation Creative Destruction Exploitation

Nested Eco-Cycles Cross Scale Dynamics

From Lifecycle to Ecocycle The Performance Loop The Renewal Loop Source: http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides9.html

crisis choice expand possibilities & buy-in conserve new thinking EXPLORATION MATURITY New Ideas: Creative * Messy * Uncertain* First hand insights * Outside ideas * Multiple Perspectives * Flat structure & process * Probes & Little Experiments * Options Productivity: Efficiency * Certainty * Stability * Hierarchical structure & process * Clear Tasks, Rules, Policies & Procedures * Standardization * Specialists * Fast Returns * Low Risk Tolerance expand possibilities & buy-in conserve new thinking declining EROI place bets manage crisis choice sustain & grow broad direction birth confusion develop & adapt shared vision refine reconnect Effectiveness: Entrepreneurial * Generalists * Roles * Adaptive structure and process * Prototypes & Pilot Projects * Variation * Lag times Flexible funding * Flexible rules * Tolerance for Risk * Dead ends * Emerging Practice Vision: Charismatic * Unraveling * Chaotic * Loss, Anger, Blame, Conflict * Little structure or process * Reflection * Relationships * Essence * Values * Principles * New Energy & Urgency DEVELOPMENT CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

MATURITY EXPLORATION rigidity trap chronic disaster trap developing possibilities & buy-in manage & conserve choice shared vision new direction sustain & grow crisis birth develop & resource commitment confusion scarcity trap parasitic trap CREATIVE DESTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT

Four Transitional Traps Description Typical Challenges SCARCITY People struggle to ‘birth’ something likely to lead to outcomes and garners the support of the larger community. The ideas are not compelling. Underdeveloped decision-making process & criteria. Members disagree on which options to pursue. Members have insufficient credibility. Energy spread too thin across many directions. PARASITIC People seem unable to sustain or grow their work because it is ‘parasitic’ on the host(s) that gave it birth. Over reliance on key – often founding – members of the group. Dependence on start-up pool of resources. Approach works well only at a certain scale or in unique context. RIGIDITY People are unable or unwilling to change or dismantle an approach that no longer fits the evolving context in which they operate. Psyche of immediate return. Fear of uncertainty. Self-Interest. Lack of clear exit rules. Concern about perception of failure. Pressure to continue by entrenched constituency (e.g. ‘too big to fail’). CHRONIC DISASTER People find themselves ‘spinning’ and unable to get traction on a compelling new vision, values and intent for moving forward. Inability to let go of the past. Weak trust amongst members. Difficulty in agreeing on shared vision and values. Volatile environment. Four Transitional Traps

Benefit-Cost of Collaboration Possible Benefits Access resources Share resources. Reduce costs. Streamline services. Tap into diverse perspectives and networks for new or better service. Protect programming. Likely Costs Time & resources intensive. Reconciling self-interest and group interest. Power imbalances. Inequitable benefits. Unpredictable.

Success Factors Genuine motivation to collaborate. The right people & organizations (e.g. knowledge, authority, diversity, skills) Alignment of personal and organizational interests. Trustful relationships. Supportive environment (credibility of players, etc.). Power Issues addressed head on. Appropriate, clear, responsive structure and process. Effective (in)formal communication. Coordination capacity (e.g. people, financial resources). Progress

Resiliency/Sustainability Outcomes Outcomes Anecdotal and mixed evidence on: Policy & Advocacy Service Planning and Delivery Quantitative and more positive evidence on: Back Office Consolidation Social Marketing and awareness campaigns. Resiliency/Sustainability 5 out of 10 collaborations in the health services sector have serious implementation problems. 3 out of 10 business networks achieve their stated objectives. Spontaneous agency-driven collaborative efforts have greater chances than funder induced collaborations.

Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Seven Big Ideas 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

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

Find a colleague at your table Find a colleague at your table. Each take 5 minutes to share your answers to the following questions: 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!

Lunch

The Exploration Phase First Steps

Collaboration Strategic Intent A strategic intent is a high level statement about how to achieve a vision or outcome. It is meant to make an idea more explicit and shared ‘early on’ in the discovery process so that the process can be shared but not so detailed as to limit creativity and the participation of others. In the increasingly popular design approach to change, people refer to a strategic intent as a “design brief”. Elements of Collaboration Strategic Intent What is the outcome(s) we are seeking? What are the key features of our idea to make this happen? Who else needs to be involved in this exploration? What are the options for moving this idea forward? Is this idea likely to be What questions emerge as we discuss this idea? See: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/strategic_intent.html

Three Entry Points to Any Idea Stakeholders Options Problem or Issue What are the options for action? Who are the stakeholders affected by a situation or with the capacity to intervene? What are the characteristics of the problem or issue we face?

Stakeholders Moderately Influencing Least Influencing Most Influencing United Way Parents Kids Most Affected Most Affected Moderately Affected Least Affected Least Affected Moderately Affected

Problem or Issue

Characteristics of Complex Issues It is difficult to frame. The cause and effect relationships are unclear. There are diverse stakeholders. Each experience is unique. Complex issues evolve. Solutions are not obviously right or wrong. There is no objective measure of success.

Many Community Issues Overlap Far Chaos Political Zone of Complexity Agreement Simple Complicated Close Close Certainty Far

Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Reflection Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

Think, Pair & Share Think (5 minutes, alone) What ‘ahas’ – if any – have you had this morning? What new questions emerge? 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 Today Revisited Introduce key concepts, lenses and evidence related to inter-agency collaboration. Begin creating a broad description for collaboration in your sector. Experience tools used in the important ‘exploration’ phase. Develop a ‘draft intent’ statement for collaboration. Identify and explore emerging questions. ? ? ? Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement 36

Collaboration Resources Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement

Collaboration Aides

Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement Eco-Cycle Lenses Brenda Zimmerman. From Lifecycle to Cecile http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides9.html 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

Collaboration 201 Faster Alone, Farther Together Going the First Steps Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families Edmonton, May 25, 2010 Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement 40