The
Collaborative Leader
Primus interes pares
Department of Recreation Administration
California State University, Fresno
Volume 2, Issue 2
October 2010
An unexamined life is scarcely one worth living.
--Socrates
On the E.D.G.E. by L-Jay Fine
Last month we hosted the largest number of participants in one day at the E.D.G.E. Challenge Course. 250
staff and managers from the Fresno Housing Authority participated in 13 different activities including several
high elements (with ropes and harnesses). Also, members from the Collaborative Leadership Project
presented at the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities, a prestigious and national conference
made up of university administrators held this year at California State University, Fresno.
Justin Butchert assisting Nancy Nisbett leading an activity.
an FHA participant.
Nick and Jared spotting on a team
problem-solving activity.
Read more…
10 Secrets of Collaborative Organization by L-Jay Fine
Last month I reviewed the book Group Genius by Keith Sawyer. As a follow-up, on page 160 he lists his
recommendations from his research. The list that follows summarizes his conclusion to the study. Read
more…
Data Stream by L-Jay Fine
An essential ingredient to an effective collaboration is gathering all stakeholders around the table. Input from
all constituents is critical. According to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation “programs that are designed in isolation
from the population they serve will inevitably fail.” Read more…
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Resources:
If there is one characteristic that trumps all others regarding collaborative leaders is their collective aversion
to reinventing the wheel. An effective collaborative leader leverages all her or his networking and knowledge
bases to avoid rehashing work that’s already been done. Read more…
Desktop Initiative
Initiative is the term given to experiential problem solving activities traditionally presented to teams on
challenge courses. To challenge you, each newsletter will include a Desktop Initiative. The first person or
team to send in the correct answer will win a prize ($25.00 value). Send your answer to L-Jay Fine at
larryf@csufresno.edu. The winner will be announced in the next newsletter. Read more…
Full Articles
On the E.D.G.E. by L-Jay Fine
Last month we hosted the largest number of participants in one day at the E.D.G.E. Challenge Course. 250
staff and managers from the Fresno Housing Authority participated in 13 different activities including several
high elements (with ropes and harnesses). This month, members from the Collaborative Leadership Project
presented at the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), a prestigious and national
conference made up of university administrators held this year at California State University, Fresno.
Justin Butchert assisting Nancy Nisbett leading an activity.
an FHA participant.
Nick and Jared spotting on a team
problem-solving activity.
The FHA program was a remarkable team effort. The talents of most of our EDGE Staff were tapped as well as
contributions from volunteers and the staff from the Residence Dining Hall. It would be disingenuous to say
the program went without a hitch but it was, nonetheless, a great testimony to the energy and commitment
of the EDGE facilitators and staff to provide an enriching learning experience for such large numbers.
Our panel on the CUMU Conference presentation on the Collaborative Leadership Project left me exhilarated
and ready to hit the ground running. It’s such a pleasure to work with dedicated, compassionate and bright
colleagues. We are currently seeking to re-write the modules developed originally in 1995. Anyone
interested in collaborating on writing one of the 6 modules or learning more about the process, please contact
me at larryf@csufresno.edu.
As a short aside, check out this student video done regarding our Challenge Course Class, REC 75. I thought
they did a great job.
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10 Secrets of Collaborative Organization by L-Jay Fine
Last month I reviewed the book Group Genius by Keith Sawyer. As a follow-up, on page 160 he lists his
recommendations from his research. The list that follows summarizes his conclusion to the study:
1. keep many irons in the fire and rapid prototyping
2. department of surprises: keep track of ideas and failures, they often emerge elsewhere as innovations
3. build spaces for creative conversations
4. allow time for ideas to emerge (time pressure kills creativity)
5. manage the risks of improvisation: balance planning with improve
6. improvisation at the edge of chaos
7. manage knowledge for information
8. manage dense networks
9. ditch the organization chart
10. measure the right things
My favorites from the above are number 2 and 3. I’m a hoarder by nature, not of stuff but of ideas. Finding
effective ways to capture and retrieve ideas is always the pivotal challenge. Creating a “department of
surprises” is a great concept. If you come up with a creative system for this, please share.
“Building spaces for creative conversations” happens to be the greatest contributor to innovation. The
concept of propinquity (providing close proximity among diverse people) directly correlates with effective
collaboration and problem solving. Examining our office spaces, communities, and institutions we can readily
see we fall short on this design. I subscribe that silo thinking is less about the individuals and more about
management systems and architectural design. This deserves much more depth and I welcome your input on
this subject.
Data Stream by L-Jay Fine
An essential ingredient to an effective collaboration is gathering all stakeholders around the table. Input from
all constituents is critical. According to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation “programs that are designed in isolation
from the population they serve will inevitably fail.” I was once invited on a task force for improving the quality
of student outcomes and was vetoed when suggesting a student serve on the committee. Not having all
perspectives limits diversity of thinking and can also diminish buy-in.
Beyond getting everyone’s input, an on-going effort must be directed to providing a data stream all members
have equal access to. Communication in our high tech age has made this both easier and more challenging at
the same time. Inundating your committee with endless emails will not solve this problem. At the same time,
providing reading material at the meetings seems a waste of time. Pre-reads are integral to lining up your
team on a common agenda with shared language and, hopefully, a collective goal. As with any collaborative
effort, the data stream should not be one-sided. All members of the collaborative should be able to provide
information. Screening material might be another burden the collaborative leader must undertake. As the
Wikipedia definition of collaborative leadership so eloquently state: the collaborative leader must “safeguard
the process.” Part of the safeguarding is assuring that all pertinent information is provided to all your
stakeholders…but not too much information.
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Resources:
If there is one characteristic that trumps all others regarding collaborative leaders is their collective aversion
to reinventing the wheel. An effective collaborative leader leverages all her or his networking and knowledge
bases to avoid rehashing work that’s already been done. To paraphrase Archimedes, give me a lever big
enough and I’ll move the world. As such, I would be remiss if I didn’t introduce you to this wonderful website
replete with downloadable training material: http://www.collaborativeleadership.org/ This collaborative
leadership resource was developed from Turning Point through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. I’ve found the material very helpful and can be used in many training settings.
Wikipedia is an exemplar of collaboration. Even with all the Nobel Laureates on the Encyclopedia Britannica’s
staff, Wikipedia, an open-source forum, has triumphed over all of its rivals with scarcely a dollar of investment.
It has become the trusted source for information for most undergraduates and, frankly, a jumping off point for
many researchers and knowledge gatherers. Despite its controversy (research shows that there are many
errors but not significantly more than its predecessor made up of all scholars and experts) its contribution as a
knowledge source is unparalleled. This is brought to your attention because it was interesting to look up
Collaborative Leadership on Wikipedia. The definition seemed fitting and much of the supportive material
quite helpful. I invite you to take a look at it (Collaborative Leadership) and would enjoy hearing what you
think about Wikipedia’s treatment of this field of study.
Desktop Initiative
Initiative is the term given to experiential problem solving activities traditionally presented to teams on
challenge courses. To challenge you, each newsletter will include a Desktop Initiative. The first person or
team to send in the correct answer will win a prize ($25.00 value). Send your answer to L-Jay Fine at
larryf@csufresno.edu. The winner will be announced in the next newsletter.
Last Month’s Desktop Initiative Solution
Take the following circle and draw four straight lines through it. What is the most number of slices you can
get?
This Month’s Desktop Initiative
No response from last month’s initiative. Is anyone reading this newsletter? . I’ll keep last month’s initiative
until solved.
Primus interes pares: Latin for first among equals.
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