Partnership and Innovation
So, what is the alternative to competition? Look again at natural systems and you will see partnership through innovation, problem-solving and collaboration.
Local marketplaces aim to pool resources and create opportunities so everyone can make a living. The solution to most problems is not so much technology as learning how to work together. No amount of technology can overcome destructive personal relationships. I’ve seen this time and again in community and church groups. Work unravels because we cannot overcome personal conflicts.
Where people successfully share expertise
- There is little hierarchy or status – this is important because where there is genuine collaboration, people learn to listen. People perceive problems differently when they approach them from distinct perspectives. Hierarchy tends to isolate those at the top from those at the bottom. Airlines for example have found fewer accidents take place where there is less hierarchy. The NHS is learning the same lessons from the airlines’ experience. Surgeons who listen to their nurses are more likely to be successful. (See Ian Leslie’s article “How mistakes can save lives” from the New Statesman, 4 June 2014.)
- Mutually tends to flatten hierarchies. The retail co-operatives were highly innovative and owned by their customers. At its best this type of co-operation has been immensely creative. Employee co-ops in other parts of the world have also been very successful. Ultimately, it is not ownership that matters so much as
- Size – small is beautiful. I know as a sole worker that I need to work with others. At present, I work alongside my clients and help them develop their own sites. For small businesses there is potential to develop working partnerships with other small businesses sharing a similar market. A recent trend has been mutuals between small businesses, where a co-op’s members are small businesses, which are sole traders or small partnerships.
Partnership does not need to be a full-on. I’m a member of a group of website designers based all over the world. They are a source of support, as we help solve each others problems. Being online is an opportunity to develop these types of partnership and next time I shall explore them further.
Have you experience of working collaboratively or in partnership?