Radical collaboration is essential for those working towards transformation of social and environmental outcomes. I recommend the book “Radical Collaboration – Five Essential skills to overcome defensiveness and build successful relationships” by James W. Tamm and Ronal J. Luvet (2004, HarperCollins) for those interested in delving deeper. They focus on building collaborative intention, truthfulness, accountability, self-awareness and problem solving with negotiation skills. All critical for productive relationships. They share some great research too.
So, I was drawn to a session on Radical Collaboration recently. It was an excellent discussion, with social entrepreneurs and their enablers, such as Acumen, sharing their pain and learning. The discussion focused on system challenges and opportunities, including:
- Leadership for people and the planet is needed.
- Public, private and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) may be complex, but they can be key to achieving long-term sustainability.
- Blended finance and blended business models don’t need to be so complex – you can keep it simple, for example using convertible grants.
- Take the opportunity to monetise impact where possible, particularly around climate funding.
- The main challenge highlighted is to enable the many grassroots organisations to collaborate in large scale change and funding approaches.
- Finally, there’s a plea for realism as well as radical ambition for collaboration.
My concern is that organisations are not building the skills and capacities for radical collaboration. The growing importance of PPPPs is such that the stakes are high. Radical collaboration needs commitment, but it also needs investments in people and systems. We need to pay more attention to the essential skills required to build these successful relationships that can enable transformation. Let’s see some radical collaboration funds to support transformation.
By Rachael Clay
