Collaborating Across Organizational
Boundaries: It’s No Longer Optional
Russ Linden
Russ Linden & Associates
www.russlinden.com; russlinden@earthlink.net
“You have to learn to manage in situations where you don’t have command authority,
where you are neither controlled nor controlling. That is the fundamental change.”
-- Peter Drucker, management theorist, on the key leadership challenge of the future.
1
About Russ Linden
Russ Linden is a management educator and author who specializes in organizational change methods. Since 1980, he
has helped government, non-profit and private-sector organizations develop leadership, foster innovation, and
improve organizational performance. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the
Federal Executive Institute. He writes a column on management innovations for Management Insights, an
online column sponsored by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Governing Magazine. In 2003 he
was the Williams Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York (Fredonia) School of
Business.
He has published numerous articles, and five books. His book Seamless Government: A Practical Guide to Reengineering in the Public Sector (Jossey-Bass, 1994), was excerpted in the May, 1995 issue of Governing
Magazine, and has been translated into Chinese. His book Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration
Work in Government and Nonprofit Organizations, is now in its 7th printing. It was a finalist for the best book on
nonprofit management in 2002 (awarded by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management). His most recent book,
Leading Across Boundaries, focuses on the leader’s role in promoting collaboration.
His clients have included the National Geographic Society, several military and intelligence agencies, the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., a partnership of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, Drug
Enforcement Administration, National Parks Service, U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, Interior, HHS and
Education, one member of Congress, one governor, two state attorneys general and over four dozen state and
local government agencies. He’s also worked with several non-profit agencies in the U.S. and Israel.
Before beginning his full-time practice, Russ was a Senior Faculty Member at the Federal Executive Institute. He
served as the Director of Executive Programs at the University of Virginia's Center for Public Service, taught
at the UVa McIntire School of Commerce, and worked in the human services field for 10 years. His volunteer
commitments include scholarship programs that help low-income youth afford college. Russ Linden's
bachelor's and master's degrees are from the University of Michigan. His Ph.D. is from the University of
Virginia. He and his wife have two adult children. They live in Charlottesville, VA. For more, see his web site:
www.russlinden.com.
2
Why this topic?
Why I’m passionate about collaboration…
What prompted you to take this course?
3
Collaboration – The Walls Are Crumbling:
• Between agencies
• In academia
• Using social networks to foster information
sharing and collaboration.
4
Intellipedia: Removing walls between
intelligence agencies
• “Intellipedia,” created in ’05, based on the Wikipedia model:
a self-governing system written/edited by consumers
• Like Google, it offers a way to show which postings are
most used and cited
• Anyone with appropriate security clearance can post
entries, add information and opinions
• This is peer-based evaluation: if a fact or opinion strikes a
cord with enough analysts, it’s widely read
• Intellipedia contributors are not anonymous;
errors occur, but contributors are accountable
•
For more: “Open-Source Spying,” by Clive Thompson. New York Times Magazine,
12/3/06
5
Intellipedia
• Some advantages: speed; ease of idea exchange; younger
analysts can offer input; analysts find others with
similar interests; chance to spot patterns earlier
• Caveats: it’s not official IC opinion; it lacks the rigor of a
formal review process; and security concerns
• Many young analysts are comfortable with this system –
they’re “digital natives,” idea exchange is their
norm. Older ones face a cultural sea change
6
Removing walls in academia
For 100 years medical education was delivered through lectures;
students regurgitated facts on exams.
The emphasis was on individual student learning; the tradition was
“one patient, one doctor.”
The model is changing. Two of the reasons:
1.
About half of all medical knowledge becomes obsolete every
five years, and
2.
An increasing amount of medical care is handled by teams.
7
Removing walls in academia
Today students learn in teams. The emerging medical
model: “one patient, one doctor, and a team.”
From: “Adjusting the Prescription,” in The University of Virginia Magazine, Spring, 2011.
8
Using social networks to help people collaborate
“Facebook Cements No. 1 Status”
-- headline in Washington Post, 12/31/’10
• Facebook was the most visited website in 2010.
• Americans spent almost 23% of their online time using social
networks in 2010 (more than any other Internet activity).
• “We’re moving from a Google-centric Web to a people-centric
Web,” noted one media analyst.
9
Collaboration – The need is apparent at the
organizational level:
• Lack of resources to do it ourselves
• Highly complex problems that require multiple
skill sets and mindsets
• Create more integrated product for customers
• Learn from others
• Grow your network
• Improved mission accomplishment
10
But collaboration can be very difficult:
The National Park Service
• NPS mission includes preserving resources in our nat’l parks
• Its leadership emphasizes the use of partnerships
• Major partnership opportunity: Maintenance
• Maintenance function very large: sometimes ½ of a park’s FTE
• Maintenance staff may work in same park entire career
• Pay not high, but great pride in their work
• Often understaffed
• The issue: How help maintenance staff get comfortable working
11
with volunteer partners, to maintain parks?
The National Park Service
Superintendents offer many incentives to partner:
• Volunteers eager to help, will do work
maintenance doesn’t have time for
• They’ll do low-skill work, free up maintenance
for higher skill, more interesting tasks
• They’ll spot unmet needs
• Volunteer partners increase public support for parks
• Working with volunteers gives maint. staff good experience that
enhances their careers
• Forming partnerships is one of the agency’s priorities
12
The National Park Service
Maintenance staff know that their superintendents want
them to welcome and work with the volunteer partners,
but many oppose it.
Why?
13
The hurdles are apparent
Lack of trust among
principals
Fear of losing: control,
autonomy, quality,
resources
Turf concerns,
and the “self
serving bias”
Great amount of
time and effort
required
Hurdles to
Collaboration
Narrow (“silo”)
mentality
Different funding
streams, measures,
and/or goals among
the partners
14
Collaboration hurdles
No perceived reward for
individuals/orgs. that
try to collaborate
“Perverse
incentives”
The costs are born
up front; benefits
may not appear for years
Different org.
cultures
Hurdles to
Collaboration
Lack of leaders’
support
Concern that the
exchange between
partners won’t be
reciprocal
“Almost nothing about the bureaucratic ethos makes it hospitable to
interagency collaboration.” -- Prof. Eugene Bardach
15
Another kind of hurdle
16
And another …
17
Collaboration in your agency
Which collaboration hurdles need to come down in
your agency?
18
Exercise
Four people need to cross a bridge. It’s the dead of night, there’s no
light, and there is a man-eating shark in the water, so swimming
isn’t an option. They must take the bridge to get across.
Their goal: Get across the bridge as quickly as possible!!
Here are the constraints:
•
•
•
•
The group has only one flashlight, it lights up one half of the
bridge, they can’t make it across safely without it.
The bridge can only handle the weight of 2 people at a time.
Once someone crosses the bridge with the flashlight, it can’t be
thrown back to the other side. Someone must walk it back.
The four people move at different speeds. It takes each this long
to cross the bridge:
Mary: 1 min. Al: 2 mins. Bob: 5 mins. Carol: 10 mins.
19
Exercise
Their goal: Get across the bridge as quickly as possible!!
Mary: 1 minute Al: 2 minutes Bob: 5 minutes Carol: 10 minutes
Question: What is the shortest time for all four to cross?
20
Collaboration requires a collaborative mindset
21
A collaborative mindset
Hockey great Wayne Gretsky was asked how he performed at
such a high level (he wasn’t very big, wasn’t the fastest or
most aggressive player on the ice by any means). He said:
“I don’t skate to where the puck is, I skate to where I
think the puck will be.”
Wayne Gretsky had a different mindset.
22
A collaborative mindset
Collaborative leaders need to:
• Think creatively: Who are some non-traditional
partners to involve? What are some new ways to
do this work?
• Think horizontally: who else can help with this project?
Who else needs to know about our work? What’s
the larger picture?
• Think strategically: where is the “puck” going to be?
How do we position this project for success?
23
Collaboration: What?
Two or more organizations (within one agency or
across agencies) with a common goal, sharing:
• Staff
• Resources,
• Decision making …
and sharing ownership of the final product or
service.
24
Collaboration: one of a continuum of
approaches
Cooperating Coordinating Collaborating Integrating Merging
Less formal / intensive
More formal / intensive
25
Collaboration example: JNET
• Begun by Former Gov. Tom Ridge in 1996
• Goal: Enhanced pub. safety through access to agencies’
offender information and other criminal justice data
• Two earlier efforts toward same goal failed due to low trust,
a top-down one-size-fits-all approach, & lack of funding
• Before JNET, these agencies couldn’t share electronic data;
took several days to get records, photos, warrants, etc.
• A cop’s killing (by a convict with 6 aliases) spurred interest
• JNET’s multiple capabilities include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
share offender information
access driver license information
access digital mug shots
exchange photo images
use secure email
access searchable on-line reference libraries
26
JNET (cont)
• JNET uses open Internet and Web technologies and the
XML language to help agencies exchange information
• Ridge provided $11M in funding, kept it a priority
• Agencies control JNET through a 2-part governance
structure:
• Steering Team designed/developed the system; met weekly
throughout the project (still meets to this day),
• Executive Council (politicos) developed policy, strategic
direction – met occasionally, but needed to be involved
• The two-part structure helped build ownership, trust,
relationships. No one agency owns it; all own it
27
JNET (cont)
• St. Team had great autonomy and control: each JNET
agency decides what to share, who may access it
• Agencies didn’t have to let go of their legacy systems
• JNET was built in “chunks;” first phase stood up in 2.5
years, fully operational in 4 years
• Confidence and trust grew over time; as functionality was
delivered and agency input used, concerns about control
and micro management lessened
• JNET is shared with fed. agencies, and all PA counties. It
created a constituency of support among county leaders,
who help keep its funding stable in the legislature
28
JNET – Some results
•
Catching those with false IDs trying to enter prisons
•
Apprehending suspects/known criminals on the spot (often
through instant access to people’s photos and background
information)
•
Catching absconders who avoided police for years
•
Using JNET’s multiple data bases and photos to make the largest
seizure of cocaine in Philadelphia’s history
•
Quickly learning that a suspect in one case is wanted elsewhere,
or is out on bail (thus, a poor risk for bail)
•
Using facial recognition software to identify and arrest those
suspected of identity theft.
For more:
http://www.pajnet.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_justice_netwo
rk/4424
29
JNET (cont)
1.
What do you think were the key factors
leading to JNETs success?
2.
Which of those factors would be
especially helpful in your agency’s culture?
30
Force Field Analysis: A tool for planning
collaborative projects, anticipating hurdles
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
DRIVING FORCES
4
3
2
1
RESTRAINING FORCES
-1
-2
-3
-4
GOAL:
31
Using the Force Field Analysis tool
1. Write the goal of the initiative
2. Identify the driving forces – those internal and
external factors that can help achieve the goal
3. Identify the restraining forces – internal/external
factors that are hurdles to achieving the goal
4. Decide the length of each line (length = its
strength)
5. Identify a few restraining forces that you/your team
can influence: how can you or your team reduce
or neutralize those forces?
32
Using the Force Field Analysis tool
Apply the tool to the JNET project:
Driving forces?
Restraining forces?
Which restraining forces did the Governor
and Steering Team address upfront?
33
1. The collaboration method
The collaboration method requires these elements:
• A specific shared purpose or goal that the parties can’t
achieve on their own
• The parties want to meet now
• The appropriate people are at the
table
• An open, credible process
• A champion(s) for the initiative
• Trust: candid, open relationships
34
Why it’s sometimes hard to get the
appropriate people to the table
•
The “appropriate people” are often needed on many task forces.
•
They may have higher priorities
•
Their bosses may have a hard time justifying
the time
When you invite people to join a collaborative group, realize they’re
probably asking themselves two questions:
1.
What’s in it for me (or, for us) to work on this? (WIIFM?),
2.
What’ll it cost me (WICM?)
35
How to answer the “WIIFM” question?
• The best answer for some is, “it’s the right thing to do.”
Other people need more tangible benefits:
• We need you to achieve the project mission
• Resources are available
• An executive sponsor supports the project
• Emphasis on sharing credit for results
• Capable, team players are involved
• Early, visible successes
• Playing to each person’s strengths
• Important customers talk about why this matters to them
36
We also have to answer the “WICM?”
question
What’ll it cost me? (“WICM?”) is also on people’s
minds when asked to collaborate.
This is a reasonable question, and needs to be addressed. Will
it cost members:
•
•
•
•
•
Resources?
Time?
Reputation (fear the project will fail)?
Ability to focus on their high priorities?
Control over their programs/mission?
A good way to reduce perceived costs: Show your willingness
to “pull the plug” it things are going poorly.
37
Another key element: An open,
credible process
• Joint ownership for the process
• Agreed-upon ground rules (the “70% rule” is a good one)
• Clear roles: who’s responsible for what
• Agreed-upon game plan: phases/steps,
decision-making and problem-solving methods
• Metrics, and a method for holding the parties accountable
• Transparency; no behind-scenes decision making
• A skillful convener
38
Exercise
Think of a collaborative project that you’re
working on.
Fill out the first 3 questions on the Collaboration
Worksheet.
NOTE: First discuss the Stakeholder Grid (next slide)
39
Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid
High
Actively
Keep
Involve
Satisfied
Them
Power
Keep
Monitor
Informed
(invite in?)
Low
Low
Interest
High
40
The power, and importance, of a
passionate champion
41
The tasks of the working-level
champion
• Articulate the project’s purpose in a way that excites others
• Get appropriate people to the table, and keep them there
• Help parties see common interests, and the benefits from
joint effort
• Generate trust
• Celebrate small successes, share credit widely
• Find a senior champion for the effort
• Provide confidence, hope, resilience
42
The working-level champion : Self
Assessment
How do you see yourself?
1 2 3 4 5
Poor
•
Articulate the project’s purpose in a way
that excites others
Excellent
____
•
Get appropriate people to the table, keep them there ____
•
Help parties see common interests/benefits
____
•
Generate trust
____
•
Celebrate small successes, share credit widely
____
•
Find a senior champion for the effort
____
43
•
Provide confidence, hope, resilience
____
What can we learn from the Miles Davis
quintet?
44
The power of trusting
relationships
* Handling the 9-11 attacks at the Pentagon
“You can’t hate someone whose story you know.” - Management
consultant Art Cross
45
The importance of trusting
relationships
Causes of Alliance Failures in Business:*
• Inability to manage the relationships
• Poor strategy and planning
• Bad financial and legal conditions
* From a study of 130 companies, by Vantage Partners
52%
37%
11%
46
The Importance of Relationships
“In Congress in the 70’s, most
members stayed in DC on the
weekends. They got to know
each other and their families.
Today, almost all members fly
home from every weekend; we
don’t know each other … If I’ve learned anything, it’s that a
legislative body is built on relationships.”
- Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson
47
To build open, trusting relationships
On p. 60 of Leading Across Boundaries, see list of 9 approaches for
building trust on collaborative teams (spelled out on pp. 61-70).
1. Which of these has worked for you?
2. Which would you like to use more effectively?
3. Are there other approaches that help you develop trust on
collaborative teams?
An excellent book on this topic: The Speed of Trust, by Covey.
48
Successful collaboration requires
thinking politically
• Identify key “veto holders”and learn their interests
• Learn if some of the principals are rivals
• Avoid any appearance that the lead agency(ies) are in this
to grab power/resources
• Widen the “arena of engagement”
• Connect the initiative to the agenda of senior agency
people
49
Thinking politically in collaborative
projects
• “Frame” partnership’s goal in a simple way, make benefits
clear
• Learn what key stakeholders think they have to gain, and
lose
• Pay attention to timing: is this the right time to move
forward?
• Remember one of the rules of politics: we gain power when
we share it
50
Thinking politically in collaborative
projects
Which of these have you used?
What other political “rules of the road” have
you found useful?
51
Look at the handout on collaborative
strategies
The first page describes a process for starting a
collaborative project.
The rest of the handout identifies common collaboration
hurdles, and some strategies to address each.
The last page is a tool to use with new teams.
52
Effective collaboration strategies:
exercise
Think about the collaborative project that you’re
focusing on. Using any items in the Collaborative
Strategies handout, and your creative skills:
Fill out questions 4 & 5 on your worksheet,
and discuss with your partner.
53
The other key element:
Collaborative Leadership
One definition:
“Leading as a peer, not as a superior”
-- David D. Chrislip
54
55
Collaborative Leadership
What collaborative leaders share: competence; comfort with risk,
change, and chaos; political skills; future orientation. Most
important, they:
1. Have great determination and resolve, but keep ego in check
2. Listen carefully to understand others’ perspectives
3. Look for win-win (not win-lose) possibilities
4. Use more “pull” than “push”
5. Think systemically, and connect to a larger purpose
56
1. Great determination/resolve, with
ego in check
“I was one of the most egotistical people
you would ever meet … My ego is not
a personal ego, it’s a team ego. My ego
demands … the success of my team.”
-- Bill Russell, star center of the Boston
Celtics (which won 11 championships
in 13 years with Russell), quoted in his
book Russell Rules.
57
2. Listen carefully to understand others’
perspectives
“I learned early that one of the most important
qualities of the leader is listening without
judgment…”
- Phil Jackson, former pro basketball coach (who
won 11 NBA championships), quoted in his
book Sacred Hoops.
58
3. Look for win-win possibilities
The Philadelphia Phillies, Clearwater Fl., and the new
stadium
59
4. Use pull more than push
In “In The Valley of Elah,” the
detective uses pull when she
tells the police chief,
“I think you know what the
right thing to do is, sir.”
60
5. Think systemically, connect to a
larger purpose
When Bill Leighty became the deputy at a large state
agency, he found a way to transform a lifeless
office into a passionate one.
61
All 5 Collaborative Leadership
characteristics are demonstrated in this
video about Dwight Eisenhower
62
Collaborative Leadership and your
Project
Think about the collaborative project that you’re
working on in this course. How might effective
collaborative leadership make a difference?
Fill out question 6 on your worksheet.
63
Other key collaboration factors
• Continuity of leadership
• Each partner plays to its strengths
• It’s more of a voluntary than mandatory effort
• Willingness among partners to accept less than 100% - try
the “70% rule.”
• Resources
• Results are measured, publicized, everyone gets credit
• A bias for action
64
Some of our past collaborative
leaders
•
•
•
•
•
George Washington
James Madison
Martin Luther King
Abraham Lincoln
Eleanor Roosevelt
65
Culture change in large orgs: FMS,
Cisco Systems
I.
Collaboration at FMS
1.
Which actions were most significant in creating the cultural
change at FMS?
2.
Which of these would be effective in your agency?
66
Efforts at major
culture change in large orgs.
II. Cisco Systems: From Cowboy to Collaborative
Culture (pp. 257-260, Leading Across
Boundaries)
What impressed you about the changes at Cisco?
67
Toward a Collaborative Culture …
Some emerging characteristics of collaborative
organizations and cultures
• Training, evaluations and promotions emphasize
collaboration; rotations required for moving up
• Performance management systems that require
collaboration (with real accountability)
• Shared (and distributed) leadership
• “Requirement to share” (information) replaces “need to
know” as the default mode
• Creative uses of IT to engage customers as active partners
in value creation – use the interactive “Web 2.0” tools
• High-stakes work increasingly done in co-located units
68
Toward a Collaborative Culture …
Training, evaluations and promotions
emphasize collaboration; rotations are
required for moving up.
The Intel Community, NASA, SBA and some other
agencies are moving in this direction, as a way to
break down “silo” thinking and reward people for
seeking a broader perspective.
69
Toward a Collaborative Culture …
Shared and distributed leadership.
Jazz bands (like great basketball teams) are good examples
of shared leadership. They work well because
* everyone knows the key and the tempo
* there’s an agreement on how it should sound
* they take turns sharing the lead
* there is abundant trust
* the players expect improvisation
* the group is self-managing
* the group excels when they bring out the
best in each other
70
Toward a Collaborative Culture …
What opportunities do you have to share
leadership …
•
•
•
•
When you brief your manager(s)?
When you’re out of the office for a week or more?
When a direct report asks your opinion?
When you’re leading a staff meeting?
71
Toward a collaborative culture …
Some government leaders now post frequent blogs, as a way
to talk directly and informally with employees about
priorities, innovations and changes. Many of these blogs
invite employees to post comments, which can be
anonymous.
The Coast Guard leaders’ blogs are at:
http://uscg.mil/comdt/blog/
The Coast Guard also developed a YouTube channel for
employees, as part of its commitment to use social
networking tools.
72
Toward a collaborative culture …
To engage employees in improving operations, the TSA
launched the “IdeaFactory” in April, 2007. It invites
employees to exchange ideas on job-related issues, and
offer ideas for improvement. Employees comment on, and
vote on the ideas submitted. An Innovation Council reviews
the top vote getters, and decides which to implement.
At the end of its first year, several thousand ideas were
submitted, over 39,000 comments were received
on those ideas, and 20 ideas had been
implemented agency wide.
The Dept. of Transportation has created a
similar tool, and it’s making a positive impact.
73
References
“Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Alliances,” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Harvard Business Review,
July-Aug., 1994, pp. 96-108.
Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference, by Chrislip and
Larson. Jossey Bass Publishers, 1994.
Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines, by David H. Freedman.
HarperBusiness, 2000.
Difficult Conversations, by Stone, Patton and Heen. Penguin Books, 2000.
Forging Nonprofit Alliances, by Arsenault. Jossey Bass Publishers, 1998.
Getting Agencies to Work Together: The Practice and Theory of Managerial Craftsmanship, by Bardach.
Brookings, 1998.
Good to Great: why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins. Harper
Business, 2001.
Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Leadership From the World’s Only Conductorless
Orchestra, by Harvey Seifter. Times Books, 2001.
Leading Beyond the Walls: How High Performing Organizations Collaborate for Shared Success, edited
by Hesselbein, Goldsmith, and Somerville. Jossey Bass Publishers, 1999.
74
References (cont.)
Leading Across Boundaries: Creating Collaborative Agencies in a Networked World, by Russell Linden.
Jossey- Bass, 2010.
Making Collaboration Work: Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resource Management, by Wondolleck
and Yaffee. Island Press, 2000.
The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey. Free Press, 2006.
The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling, by Annette
Simmons. Perseus Publishing, 2001.
The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower, by Stephen E. Ambrose. University
Press of Mississippi, 1999.
The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005.
Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time and Organizations with Technology, by Lipnack and
Stamps. John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams.
Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in Government and Nonprofit Organizations,
by Russell Linden. Jossey-Bass, 2002.
75