Uncertainty and tension are the very conditions in which to embrace an alternative approach to conventional collaboration, [easy-tweet tweet=”Uncertainty and tension are the very conditions in which to embrace an alternative approach to conventional collaboration — Colleen Magner, Reos Partners” user=”@reospartners.com” hashtags=”#stretch, #collaboration”]Colleen Magner explains the value of stretch collaboration in the The Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2018.
“Towards the end of a training workshop in Jos, a city in northern Nigeria where my colleagues and I had been invited to train several senior government officials following national elections, a participant asked with frustration: “How can we change the mindset of people so that they move beyond the short-term, ‘get what I can gain’ mentality, to realising that this country can only succeed with a collective, long-term view?” This question resonated with me as much as it did with the audience, who applauded and murmured in agreement. How can we look at a situation and extract new insight from it? Or, even better, how can we collectively look at an issue and extract the same productive insight from it? Often, the best timing for ‘stretch collaboration’ is when there are high levels of frustration across different centres of power, and yet also an equal sense of what is possible. The sentiment that change is needed in South Africa, coupled with high levels of frustration about the current situation, are good ingredients for working together across differences.”
Free Download: The Business in Society Handbook – 21st Edition (2018)