Are you confused about all these ‘co’ terms, such as co-design, cooperation, coordination, collaboration? If so, you aren’t alone. It’s a confusing landscape of vaguely and diversely defined terms, often applied in unsystematic ways.
I find it confusing even though I spend my working life in ‘co’ land.
Here’s how a leading A.I. differentiates the various terms:
- Cooperation → light-touch task sharing
- Coordination → aligning separate efforts
- Collaboration → genuinely joint working
- Co-design → stakeholders shaping solutions
- Co-creation → users building alongside the organisation
- Co-production → shared design and ongoing delivery
There’s nothing inherently wrong with those definitions but it’s not at all how I see them. Let me share the ‘co’ words that for me comprise authentic collaboration:
Co-defining the Dilemmas
Working together to look at the situation from all perspectives. Listening to diverse voices, learning from each other about the dilemmas. Understanding the problem before trying to solve it. Building relationships by working together.
Co-designing the Process
Ensuring that everyone has their fingerprints on the process and feels some ownership of it. Building ownership of the process to foster trust and build commitment to working together. Building relationships by working together.
Co-creating the Solutions
Working together to co-create something none could have created alone. Tapping into the experiences, perspectives and innovation of all to do something new. Building relationships by working together.
Co-delivering the Actions
Working together to implement the solutions and to share accountability for that. Building relationships by working together.
Together with Commit to collaboration, these four make up our Power of Co collaboration framework. Others have a different take on all these words, but this is where I go when I go ‘co’.
I will be unpacking some of these further in our upcoming free webinar on July 22nd.