Can you "structure" emergence?
In our experience, an issue that constantly emerges, particularly from the leaders, is the lack of something tangible to 'anchor to' when staff are attempting to collaborate. They want to collaborate but are missing the measures, lacking project structure or a plan.
So for some years we have been delivering programs such as Collaboration Builder, and now an obvious and ongoing question for us is how to add rigour to the collaborative process without compromising the emergence which we believe is a key attribute of effective collaboration.
While almost all collaborative processes lay out principles and a broad guide, such as our own Power of Co Pathway, it is almost impossible to find a definitive process map of what to do, when and how to do it.
Now why is that?
We know that dealing with complexity requires a different approach to business as usual, and that structured problem solving methodologies do not work well in situations where uncertainty reigns, solutions are unknowable and even the problems are unclear. In these situations it is foolhardy to closely define the plan as it will likely fail to allow for new emerging directions that are the very heart of good collaboration- where the solutions emerge from the interaction, and can't be planned with "best practice" or even a "good practice" approach.
Yet clients want clarity and confidence. In an attempt to tackle that dilemma, we wondered what characteristics to consider in a useable guide. We landed on four which we use regularly as a lynchpin for our work- content, process, mindset and relationships. We then considered what might be useful under each heading to provide a bit of a map without compromising the flexibility and emergence critical for working in complex situations.
- Content- recognising the tangible focus for working differently
- Process- mapping out the collaborative frame
- Mindset- shining a light on how people might think and act to hold that frame
- Relationships- checking in on how the relational dynamics are being monitored and tackled consistent with the desired frame
The next step for us is to provide some more clarity on what these might look like, without locking in to a pre-determined plan. Stay tuned for updates, and let us know what you think.
Six Roadblocks to Authentic Collaboration - Part 3
This is the last in a series of three blogs where we examine the things that get in the way of authentic collaboration. Click through for some simple tools to apply.
- Business practices limiting flexibility and innovation
Be prepared to modify your "operating system":
Organisations build up formal internal operating structures and protocols that reflect their experience, and are a key part of the control mechanisms for stability and certainty. These manifest in project protocols like terms of reference, project plans, timelines and milestones, etc, as well as other habits like business planning, HR protocols, etc
"But we can't proceed until we have nailed the Terms of Reference......"
While an essential part of managing, the unintended consequence is they can frustrate trying different things, or tackling things in new ways, when the demand for these controls may clash with the flexibility and alternative approaches essential in taking a collaborative approach requiring experimentation and innovation.
One way to tackle this can be to develop a solid alternative "structure" that might look a bit different, but meets the same needs in providing confidence to those involved while not limiting the flexibility required to innovate. An example might be this - an emerging time based record that lays out context, plans, progress and outputs, but also recognises the importance of flexibility, emergence and relationships when dealing with complexity.
- Hierarchy and silos
Thinking and doing "with", not "to":
Organisations are traditionally set up using hierarchical structures and horizontal separation to manage the business. While appropriate and necessary, they can consolidate a power and control mindset and behaviours that can limit collaborators working across the horizontal boundaries, and constrain their ability to be authentic, to listen, and be flexible.
"But that might cut across what planning is doing, and we'd have to run it past finance....."
Such collaborative activities may be perceived to threaten the implicit power dynamics, triggering reactive behaviours that can shutdown innovation. It is difficult for collaborators to build the essential trust under these conditions.
Thinking and acting differently is a way to 'virtually' remove such boundaries while living within the existing structures and protocols. Acting "as if" the participants are one team not separate groups can help shift conversations and behaviours. One example is the tension we often see between the planning and delivery silos, and here is an example of a to encourage a "with" mentality and congruent behaviours in such situations.
Six Roadblocks to Authentic Collaboration - Part 2
This is the second in a series of three blog posts looking more closely at the things that get in the way of authentic collaboration. Click through for simple tools to use.
3. The desire for certainty and control
Resisting the urge to get the ducks lined up
How often have you heard someone say “Never call a meeting until you know what the outcome will be”? I have certainly heard quite experienced business executives talk this way. The subtext seems to be stay in control at all times. Always know what outcome you want and how to get it. This organisational norm works powerfully to block authentic collaboration, which requires us to let go and to let solutions emerge.
One way it manifests is in the strong desire to ‘get the ducks lined up’ before talking to other stakeholders. When I hear a client say “we want to collaborate but are just seeking the right opportunity” it can be a clear sign that they aren’t ready to let go and therefore aren’t ready to collaborate authentically.
We have found it helpful to shine a light on the ducks in a row behaviour with a . While it doesn’t make the desire for control go away, at least it makes it visible so all collaborators can recognise what may be happening, and make their choices from there.
4. A focus on content over relationships
Focussing on the person as much as the content
You have probably been there; Designed a meeting agenda only to add up the allotted minutes and found you don’t have enough time to include all the items. So what do you cut? Most of us in this situation will cut the ‘touchy-feely stuff’ – the introductions, the get-to-know-yous - and focus on the issues, because “we need to get outcomes”. And yet, as rational as we like to think we are, we all respond emotionally to new and challenging information. Working together on wicked problems requires high levels of trust that can only come from getting to know our collaborators as people first, and content specialists second.
Authentic collaboration requires us to go past what we know – or think we know – to explore what we are interested in and what we hold most dear. From this can emerge a new understanding of common ground and common cause. So next time you are collaborating, and even in the face of a strong desire to get to the content, why not invest more in exploring everyone’s interests and values as part of the work, using this . We collaborate as people, not as data, so moving past our content positions to learn who we are as people is a key to unblocking the journey.
The Six Roadblocks to Authentic Collaboration - Part 1
This is the first of three blogs in which we explore the things that get in the way of authentic collaboration. Click through for some simple tools to apply.
- The lack of robust collaborative processes
Finding a pathway:
A couple of years ago I was talking to a NZ client about collaboration, and he lamented "the team sits around the table and wants to collaborate, but they don't know how or where to start". He explained that they were keen to do things differently, especially in working across their traditional boundaries, but tended to do what they always did as they had no other guidance other than- 'you need to collaborate'. That often left them confused and frustrated as the experience seemed to be more of the same- lots of talk, little listening, and same old solutions.
Over the next 12 months, we introduced his team to the and they applied it to a couple of projects. He was keen on how they had responded and I asked him why. He said that for the first time they had a series of steps that helped them collaborate- some guidelines and handrails so when they got together they felt confident they were tackling things differently, but not too 'boxed in' to a process- it gave them a roadmap and confidence with their collaboration.
- A business as usual mindset that cripples authentic collaboration
Changing the mindset:
The traditional unilateral approach to problem solving relies on expertise and "knowing the answer".
This is sometimes best demonstrated for me in an organisation with what I call 'the curse of the expert' - ie "if only you knew what I know, you would agree and we could just get on with it"
This thinking can have unintended consequences as it risks closing down collaborative activities when people withdraw and stay silent when confronted with others pushing their answer.
Increasingly complex challenges demand a multilateral approach, supported by a "we" mindset, as illustrated in :
- I don't know all the answers,
- I need some help,
- if we listen better we can tap into the diverse expertise available
- and generate solutions we couldn't have come up with on our own
Such shifts in thinking drive new behaviours and so we do things differently when working in the collaborative space (and these new behaviours also positively impact other day to day work).
How Collaboration is Helping the World's Central Bankers Sleep Better
On a recent job in Indonesia I heard some surprising things about what keeps central bankers awake at night, and it goes something like this:
- Our world is disrupting. Digital currencies are emerging outside the financial system. Cash is in decline. The internet is shifting the way we tax and regulate and new fintech startups are emerging every day, bringing a new suite of challenges.
- To navigate this changing world we need to work differently, with different stakeholders such as law makers, regulators and technology providers.
What troubles bankers is their sense that “we don’t know what working differently looks like or how to do it”. And with this comes the fear that the age-old central bank model may be left behind. Now that is enough to make any banker feel nervous.
Yet the other (perhaps not so) surprising thing is that the banks are seeing collaboration as a key strategy for retaining their role and influence in the emerging world, which is why they were talking to me about the what why and how of collaboration. Their thinking goes that in a disrupted world, where innovation is going to be increasingly important, central bankers need to learn what collaboration is. They recognise the complexity of the environment they work in and know that collaboration is the way to make progress in this context.
They also know that collaboration isn’t just about getting in the room together, but involves powerful frameworks, new skills and new ways to think and act.
What they may not fully grasp is that collaborating well means overcoming the . From what I have seen in organisations seeking to work more collaboratively, if they can’t meet these systemic requirements they are unlikely to stay relevant and influential.
So if collaboration is helping the central banks of the world to be flexible, creative and effective, what can it contribute to your success? And what are you doing to tackle those roadblocks?
The four traps on the path to a digital water future
In its recent Digital Water report, the International Water Association lays out a map for the transformation water utilities are undergoing towards a digital future. The report draws on interviews with many industry leaders to arrive at eight key findings.
I do a lot of work with water companies, and I am working on a number of ‘digital futures’ projects. These experiences have highlighted some important, and surprising, risks to successful transformation. These are the traps that are likely to capture the unwary business as they walk the slippery path to a digital future.
Trap 1. The need for certainty in an uncertain world.
The world of digital technology is changing rapidly – even exponentially. This brings with it unavoidable complexity and uncertainty. The only thing we know for sure is that the technology and systems available in 10+ years will be different in ways we haven’t imagined yet.
The uncertainty of the digital future means managers will have less clarity than ever before. They will have to make decisions and find the way forward when the ‘right way’ is impossible to know. They will have to act even when the outcome is unclear.
The trap is apparent in the IWA report itself. The advice from leaders is to build a clear roadmap for the journey, identify priorities, outline strategies, allocate funding, get approval for plans. The trap is that doing so from a business as usual (BAU) mindset will lock managers into a fruitless search for certainty through endless planning. In a complex and emergent realm, BAU project management can’t deliver, yet it is often the only tool we know. Managers will continue to plan in order to act, when the transformative approach is to act in order to learn.
Trap 2. The curse of the expert.
The water sector is full of subject matter experts, operating in a culture that relies upon and rewards expertise. Knowing the science and applying it to problem solving has long been the key to success in the industry.
Yet in a complex and emergent world, we must recognise the limits to our knowledge, and the limits to our ability to work things out. Building a networked organisation to deliver emerging solutions to fast-evolving challenges, in a complex social, regulatory and political environment, brings with it the painful inevitability of saying “I don’t know”.
The trap is that that while we rationally recognise this and understand the logic of it, in many cases our organisational and personal identities are built on the ability to deliver, to have the answer or to solve the problem. The curse of the expert dooms us to relying on our experience and knowledge, even when these are insufficient to the task. Organisation who can’t break the curse will struggle to make the transformation to a digital future.
Trap 3. Knowing the solution before we understand what the problem is.
As the report highlights, moving to a digital water future will involve a wide range of stakeholders and a wide range of technologies. The promise is that getting all of the different parties to work and co-create together will ensure smart and implementable solutions.
The trap comes from the very human urge to get on and solve the problem - an urge that is very hard to resist, even when we rationally know that the problem is complex and messy. The technology providers will each come with a particular tech solution to an often-unspecified problem. Communities will be looking for a different range of outcomes. Water companies will have another suite of solutions based on a long history of providing safe water and sanitation. But what’s the problem we are trying to solve here?
Stepping back from ‘my’ view of the problem and solution is a very difficult thing to do. The tendency is to gloss over this part of the process and get into the exciting work of doing ‘new stuff’. The consequence is everyone running off in different directions. No alignment, No clarity. No results. If we don’t learn to be curious about the problem together, before considering solutions, we will put at risk the creation of a smart digital water future.
Trap 4. The need to control
The report describes a digital maturity curve from a transactional organisation through transitional, to dynamic and flexible, with strong networks within and between utilities and other stakeholders. This requires a less siloed, more connected and collaborative organisation.
The trap is that while leaders talk about collaboration, many continue to maintain control through BAU systems, relationships and structures. Some drivers are obvious – leaders are expected to be accountable for all that happens, so they naturally want to have their hands on the levers. But the key trap is in the less obvious drivers, such as the unconscious belief that ‘as a leader I should be the person who makes the decisions and calls the shots’. The flip side is the equally powerful tendency for team members to feel that ‘I had better take this to the boss, just in case I’m doing something wrong here’. In other words, all levels of organisations conspire to maintain existing power structures, even in the face of broad agreement that things must change. Without transforming the power dynamics, a flexible and collaborative organisation is out of reach.
These four traps aren’t the only ones that lie in wait for water businesses on the path to a digital future, but they represent the subtle complexity of the task. They also demonstrate that achieving a digital future is not simply a matter of focussing on smart technology. It is, at heart, a human journey, and all the more transformative for that.
Ever heard of a micro dilemma?
At Twyfords we’ve used the word ‘dilemma’ to describe the kind of problem that is sufficiently complex, messy, intractable or tricky, to require a collaborative response.
This month I’ve been working with local government and non-government groups in major cities and in regional centres. I’ve taken questions on whether dilemmas that require collaboration are always huge, such as our national mega-issues of how to address ‘climate change’, ‘obesity’ or ‘social disadvantage’? Or can they be more tactical like internal controversies about priorities for our current budget? Or can they be operational, such as how can our project team become more innovative? Or can they even be at a micro level, about the next small step in working together?
How do you tackle something big, intractable and messy without becoming overwhelmed? I think we can learn from the old saying that we need to do it slowly and carefully, one bite at a time.
Does size matter? Yes, I think it does, but probably in reverse to what most people are thinking. Dilemmas come in all sizes; they can be strategic, tactical and operational, sometimes all at once. But the response that really matters is at the micro level.
In our experience each big dilemma will contain bite-sized micro dilemmas about “what do we do now?” .... or “what can we do next?”. The important action for leaders is sharing these micro dilemmas even when we think we know the answer. We are often tempted to ‘lead from the front’, see an issue or a problem ahead and offer our solution to the team without sharing it or asking for help. This can impact on our team’s experience of us as collaborative leaders, reducing their trust in the process because our behaviour doesn’t feel very collaborative to them!
A leader becomes a collaborative leader when he or she is prepared to say, whenever it is relevant, “I’m not sure what to do here, what do you think?” When we are prepared to be a little vulnerable, not to be the ‘one who knows’; when we really want to encourage others to offer their expertise in the form of new ideas; that’s when collaboration starts to happen.
Think about the last time you stepped back deliberately from being the expert, didn’t offer ‘the solution’ and invited others into your dilemma thus opening up the conversation for everyone to share. You were building your team’s appetite for collaboration, one bite at a time.
When being clear may instead dull the light on the hill
I was thinking about the value of a "light on the hill" to guide a complex project, and it reminded me of a great story a colleague told me about her project and the value of keeping it a bit "fuzzy".
She had a complex issue around evaluating a major environmental plan, and the group found some challenges when trying to set the direction. Given their interest in evaluation, they found themselves naturally gravitating towards seeing success as something like 'a set of measures or KPI's'.
However they were following a collaborative guideline at the time that asked them how they would know they had succeeded, and so they took some time to re-consider what they were aiming for.
After some discussion and consideration, they agreed on a set of success factors that were quite broad eg good environmental outcomes, confidence that the actions were delivering, etc, but still provided sufficient guidance to know they were on the right track (which is all you can really do when faced with complexity where even the problem is unclear, let alone the solution.)
However what the exercise did reveal was the risk that they were running by unconsciously narrowing their vision to an objective like a 'set of measures or KPI's'. They recognised that staying with such narrow objectives may have trapped them in a business as usual approach that would constrain the potential solutions, and restrict the innovative ideas that might be possible.
As it turned out, the real value of the broader and less distinct "light on the hill" only became apparent later, with a realisation that the really innovative outcome emerging from the work was the ongoing development of an "evaluative mindset" with those involved in the project, and those who were also drawn in to the work. While measures and KPI's did also feature as elements of the emerging solutions, the real value was the change in thinking as more people saw their role in evaluating success of their interventions.
So in this case, living with a fuzzy goal contributed to smarter solutions.
Two things that collaboration is NOT
As I listen to people learning to collaborate, some of their difficulties seem to emerge from their ideas about what collaboration is and how and when it is used. I heard two people recently experience ‘light bulb moments’. One suddenly realised that working collaboratively to tackle a complex problem is qualitatively different from project management. Another realised that working collaboratively is not the same as negotiating to get the best terms in a zero sum game. These light bulb moments seemed worth exploring further.
Project management
Project management is described as the practice of initiating, planning, executing, co-ordinating and controlling the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at a specified time.
It is a highly efficient practice when bringing together a team who, between them, have all the knowledge and skill necessary to achieve project goals within the time frame.
It is NOT effective when the problem to be solved is complex and there is little agreement about the scope or focus of the problem, or any shared understanding of how to work together. In complex situations many people know something about the problem but no-one knows everything, while the way forward is uncertain and the outcome unknowable at the start. This uncertainty requires both collaborative leadership and collaborative skill, including the ability to say “I don’t know”, to demonstrate vulnerability, to work with uncertainty and to be willing to experiment, trying new ways of working and constantly checking together on what the team is learning together.
These are different ways of thinking and behaving from those needed by a project manager.
Negotiation
Negotiation is described as a bargaining process between two or more parties, each with its own aims, needs and perspectives, who seek to reach an agreement or resolve a conflict.
Negotiating is useful at times of conflict, when the aims of parties have been established and are in direct opposition. When negotiating people believe if they are to get what they want, the other party has to give up some part of what they want. So the focus of a negotiation is about trade-offs ... what each party is prepared to give up in order to get something they want. Hence a good negotiation for one party often means a bad one for the other and can lead to resentment and damaged relationships. The intent of a negotiation is about getting the best for ME.
Negotiation is NOT effective in building the essential relationships that support complex problem solving. People tackling a complex problem need to understand and respect each other’s perspectives, define the dilemma together and recognise that it is something they cannot solve alone. Learning about the whole system in which the complex dilemma is a part is also important. A different set of skills is required which includes curiosity, questioning, listening and reflecting. Collaboration is about finding solutions that are best for US and the whole system affected by the dilemma.
This requires different ways of thinking and behaving from those of good negotiators.
I’m going to think about the other things that collaboration is NOT, so perhaps it becomes clearer what it IS.
Project management versus collaboration - choosing your approach
When I’m asked “Why won’t our familiar project management approach work for this tricky project? Why should we try something that feels uncomfortable and different?” my response is along the following lines …
The project management approach
Project management is extremely useful when:
- There is agreement on the scope of the problem …
- Milestones and deliverables are clear and agreed …
- This kind of problem has been solved before …
- The appropriate expertise exists and is accessible …
- There is certainty about what needs to be done …
- The road ahead is clear even if at times the terrain may be bumpy …
- The solution will be obvious when achieved.
Even if things don’t go quite according to the prepared plan, an effective project manager/team leader will get things back on track and back ‘on time’ and ‘on budget’.
And once we’ve solved this problem, we can solve another one like it using the same thinking and repeating the same project management techniques.
The collaborative approach
In contrast, the collaborative approach is most useful when:
- The scope is hazy and everyone sees it differently …
- No-one agrees when, where or how to start …
- No-one has solved a problem like this before although many are working on bits of it …
- Nobody has all the expertise, but everyone has some …
- Existing knowledge is insufficient; new ideas and new thinking are needed …
- The way ahead is uncertain; the diversity of views and our natural urge to return to certainty cause conflict …
- The endpoint may never be reached; it keeps changing with new learning.
Choosing your approach
Working in complexity requires a collaborative approach and a collaborative mindset. It can be very hard for acknowledged experts to admit to not knowing, and for leaders to say they don’t have a solution and need help to find one. To make collaboration work, teams and organisations need particular skills that, in our experience, cannot be learned in a classroom. These skills include:
- A collaborative mindset or way of thinking (CQ) ..
- An understanding of the ‘why’ of collaboration ..
- A practical framework or pathway to follow ..
- An ability to work in uncertainty, to take risks, to test boundaries ..
- An ability to experiment, learn new things by trying and sometimes getting it wrong ..
- Advocacy and enquiry, listening and strategic questioning ..
- Confidence in collaborative processes and an ability to adapt behaviours to help groups ‘hold the collaborative frame’ and build trust and positive relationships, rather than become divided by differences of opinion, argument or actual conflict.
In our experience, teams and organisations are starting to understand complexity and the collaborative approach needed to tackle it. They accept that the relevant mindsets and skills can only be learned through doing the work and looking over the collaborative parapet to see a new way forward.