Collaboration As Mindset

I was involved in a negotiation recently that raised an internal question. Is collaboration a mindset? Specifically, in addition to the mechanics of collaboration, must there be the correct mental framework within the minds of participants in order to create the opportunity for that collaboration to be successful? Here's the dilemma that prompted the question.

Two organizations (OrgA and OrgB) exist and both pursue the same market (MarketC). For FirmA, MarketC is its sole market and for FirmB it is one of a handful. FirmB possesses a rich network within MarketC but FirmA does not. FirmA has a proven product and process in MarketC, FirmB does not but is working on it. An executive at FirmB seeks to become an executive at FirmA in addition to his position as an executive at FirmB. Does this raise a conflict of interest in the fact that the companies were both addressing MarketC? It seems to and thus precludes the ability for this executive to work for both firms.

On the contrary, was the response from the executive. FirmA, he said, can benefit substantially from FirmB's network and FirmB can benefit substantially from FirmA's product and proven process in delivering to that network. Instead of seeing a conflict of interest, he continued, it was more appropriate to see an opportunity that would raise the tide for all parties, most especially the customers of collaboration between FirmA and FirmB. Further, the fact that the executive would be part of both organizations would facilitate the collaboration through cross-fertilization and improved information flows. In terms of how that executive should manage conflicts such as allocation of time, ideas, and potential customers, that would need to be detailed in advance and agreed to by both firms such that the executive could be in a position to allocate to the "best" Firm for the customers.

This is a long story I know, and I have yet to parse whether it is either viable or the best example of what I'm talking about when I say "Collaboration As Mindset" but what struck me is that this executive had a valid point. Instead of thinking about firms or individuals seeking to maximize their exclusive advantage, collaboration needed to be framed as thinking about how parties can work together to offer something better, to solve more problems, to create more insights, to engage and empower more people, and then to have value flow to them accordingly. If done correctly, that value will be more than what they could have accomplished on their own. In other words, both companies could be better off with a collaborative approach that re-framed success as exclusive advantage to success as sustainable co-advantage.

That shift in mindset made me look at the challenge of collaboration differently. I've gotten used to thinking about enabling collaboration as requiring architectural or technology based solutions when in fact it may just as equally - or perhaps even more - be about shifting a mindset from the historically dominant one based on absolute exclusivity to the collaboratively enabling one based on shared benefits and limited exclusivities.