“The Next Evolution in Human Productivity” – Part 1
Quote from Finding Allies, Building Alliances, by Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown
I love this topic. Future transportation, logistics, and mobility (TLM) systems – especially autonomous systems – will depend on collaborative networks; they simply won’t achieve their desired results if, as many are doing today, they are working on their own. Thanks to the input from many who have been part of successful collaborations, here are six characteristics of successful collaborative networks.
A challenge: every time you start a project, first ask if it would be better executed through collaboration. And if you decide against it, think about it one more time.
“Write about Collaboration!”
I am thankful to my associates in the industry who said, “you had better write about collaboration!” Why? Because these TLM experts have seen dramatic and profound results through the application of value-added collaboration in TLM.
Many experts in TLM often don’t like the concept of “collaboration” when it comes to business, but, they do very much like the results of collaboration. Sometimes words matter; personally, I like collaborative networks (which some refer to as alliances – more on that below). Whatever you might call them, I’ll be calling them “collaborative networks” going forward.
I’ve organized, have been a part of, have witnessed, and have researched organizations with remarkable results from collaboration in TLM. But I realize that many business leaders actively avoid collaborating with each other, and they’ll only collaborate if they have to.
Building Alliances
A transportation leader who became aware that I was writing this blog turned me on to a terrific book for those who are forming collaborations or who want to get to the next level of collaborative results: Finding Allies, Building Alliances, by Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown. I will refer to this book in the blog – as well as feedback from so many who have taken part in and have witnessed both successful and unsuccessful collaborations. Buy the book – it’s a quick read, rich with examples of successful alliances and collaborative networks, and it offers a great checklist of the “must-haves when forming collaborative networks.” Here’s the link to the book on Amazon. I know that when I lead or organize my next collaborative network, I’ll be buying this book for the collaborators and their leaders.
As the book describes, collaborative networks are often formed when every other means of achieving an objective has failed. They will be the next-generation way of overcoming some of the more significant hurdles in TLM, such as how to bring more travelers into our big cities while reducing the environmental footprint. It’s time to do more than casually reference “green” as we look forward to air travel returning to our big cities. Collaborative networks focused on efficiency, throughput, and the environment may be an answer.
Here, I’ll present some collaboration “must-haves” from my own experiences and from contributors. The list isn’t exhaustive. I’ll also insert some comments from Finding Allies as well.
6 characteristics
1. 1+1+1=7. What are the current measurable results you’re trying to achieve on your own and what do you hope to achieve that perhaps could be addressed through collaborative networks? Almost every case of collaboration I’ve experienced or discovered in TLM has been borne from first trying it on their own, but eventually organizations realize they must work with others to achieve their desired results. But let’s stop struggling – once we discover the power of collaborative networks, they should be a first instinct, not last. As mentioned in Finding Allies, “Networks are simply more efficient than non-networks.” In another part of the book, “The ability to get things done with collaborative networks is the next evolution in human productivity.”
2. Establish trust, particularly in complex systems. Many thanks to Mr. Christopher A. Hart, who served as the 13th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Chris commented to me for this blog: “Getting prospective participants to collaborate is not trivial, largely due to lack of trust. In commercial aviation, for example, the manufacturers and operators don't trust each other because, if there's a crash, they will be adversaries in court, pointing the finger of blame at each other. In addition, labor and management are often adversaries and don't trust each other. Nobody trusts the regulator, for obvious reasons. Hence, the endeavor will probably need one or more champions to convince prospective participants to get beyond their usual adversarial instincts by taking off their "me-first" hats, so that they can think in terms of working to improve the system, rather than just themselves. If all that happens, working collaboratively can truly generate a win-win.”
Mr. Hart continues: “aviation is a complex system of connected and coupled subsystems that often interact in nonlinear and unpredictable ways. Hence, the bane of complex systems is that a change to improve one subsystem may improve that subsystem, but it may also have unintended consequences that may outweigh the benefits. One of the most significant benefits of collaboration in this complex system context is that everyone to whom these unintended consequences might occur is involved in the collaboration, and their participation helps prevent such unintended consequences.”
3. Common goals. Notice I didn’t say a singular leader – but certainly a common goal. Although initially organized by a singular leader, the ecosystem must take over with its own invisible hand. This may be controversial to some. What’s critical with collaborative networks is that all participants are aligned around the same goal(s) and, as a result, the ecosystem takes over, requiring less guidance.
As one of my contributors mentioned, when all participants are aligned, “that’s when all the little innovations and thousands of micro-decisions made at all levels of a widespread group add together to lubricate progress. If people/organizations are waiting for direction, have competing goals, are hesitant to innovate, or don’t think their incremental added effort is worth it, the logistics issues start piling up instead of being solved. As early career managers (sometimes) learn, as their teams get bigger, the trick is to NOT be the person seen as needing to give direction. An effort advancing at the pace and limitation of one person’s time and decision-making is inherently limited. That’s what I think of when you talk collaboration at scale – it’s NOT because everyone has a set of detailed interwoven instructions. It’s because everyone sees and internalizes the big picture goal(s) and is motivated to quickly handle all the little things that pop up in their team area in ways that align to the mission.”
4. Common platform and data set. Where some of the other characteristics of collaborative networks are similar to achieving success with any project, ensuring a common platform and data is essential for collaborative systems – especially in TLM. If you are going to work together, organizations must use the same platform, e.g., cloud-based software platform and they have to be sharing the same data. There’s more to be discussed here in future blogs.
5. Transparency which encourages positive actions. So, this is a wonderful result that only comes about because of collaboration and information-sharing. Again, there’s nuance here that’s important to notice. As participants are viewing the same information, on the same platform, with actions being shared with all parties, it is this transparency that often motivates individual members to cooperate with the rest of the participants because their positive actions are rewarded by the group. The groupthink of positive feedback actually motivates the individual players to participate and positively cooperate.
6. Measurements and feedback; in real time and post-operations. Because there is often initial skepticism toward collaboration, it’s essential to provide results as quickly as possible – with real-time results being ideal. If common objectives and metrics are progressing, then these successes must be shared quickly. (Of course, even if they aren’t progressing, the metrics must be still be shared). The feedback should be between the participants, to those who are paying for those systems within each organization, and especially to the leaders of the respective organizations. Often leaders can be skeptical of collaboration – for reasons previously stated. Feed them the results – continuously – and they’ll become believers. Additionally, positive reinforcement is essential for individual behavior to continue to execute the actions required to achieve the common objectives.
Think about all the collaborative networks you have witnessed or have been a part of. Did they work? If so, why? Did they include these characteristics?
Next blog – I’ll provide meaty, real examples of collaborative networks in TLM.
References:
1. Finding Allies, Building Alliances, 8 Elements That Bring – And Keep – People Together” by Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown. Again, here’s the link to the book on Amazon.