Collaboration for Success

Walking through Trafalgar Square on my way to a meeting I was struck by this new temporary sculpture by Cancer Research UK and reflected on how many people contributed to the foundation research necessary for the discovery of DNA, and how many people continue to work together to resolve major health problems including cancer. The willingness to share research is fundamental to long term developments and successful outcomes. Certainly we need to be careful how we share things to ensure that we retain any property rights, but a failure to share things reduces our own potential for achievements.

Many organisations have an internal culture which reduces their ability to share vital information, resulting in, for example, problems on one project being repeated on others. An open relationship could be crucial in reducing waste and improving profitability,  but the existing corporate culture - the corporate DNA - results in unwillingness to share problems.

What is in your corporate DNA? Do you actively collaborate or is there tension between the different functions all of which are required to do their best but feel constrained. Problems might not be recognised or shared reducing the opportunities for resolving them quickly and avoiding them in other projects. Is a lack of collaboration reducing overall effectiveness?

Consider the benefits, using three examples.

In Massive, the hunt for the God particle, by Ian Sample, there are many examples of where collaboration has been effective and others where either unwillingness or being unaware of related work reduced communications slowing down the processes involved in research, leading to what has become known as Higgs Bosun. The work at CERN is only the latest in a long line of research. Higgs himself credits the work to a number of researchers. The main point is that none of them accomplished the result by working alone.

In construction we have countless examples of enormous teams – 20 or more organisations and hundreds of people on a typical project – being brought together to deliver the building or railway line, port or road. But the construction is only the beginning; true collaboration takes into account the whole life of the asset, considering the facilities and asset managers, the direct users including the general public.

We can also look at Formula 1, for which the results provide a championship title to an individual and another to the constructors, perhaps better reflecting the teamwork involved, and always remarked on by the winning driver. The real public benefits come later, many improvements on the track having led to improvements in ordinary cars. Formula E is doing the same for electric cars, delivering improvements to realise the dream.

Sustainability, economy, construction, and the expected life of the finished product all have to be taken into account at the beginning if real benefits are to be delivered in the future.

In all of these endeavours we can see that we need accurate data and fast communications between the contributors in order to deliver successful outcomes.

So how does this work for your organisation, both internally and with its whole supply chain and customers? What is in your corporate DNA? What benefits could a review and frank facilitated discussion produce? Comment here and drop me a line to arrange your company’s DNA debate.

What is your experience, both  within your organisation and in your joint work with clients and your supply chain? Perhaps you need to rethink your communications to enable greater collaboration.

References: Ian Sample, The Hunt for the God Particle, Virgin Books 2011 ISBN 9780753522127

You will find Cancer Research UK here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
and can make donations here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate