Author: Lisa Gunnery
5 minutes read
Collaboration is the only way to create transformational change. But you have to be ready to take on the challenge of collaboration - it’s not easy. It requires a mindset clearly set in the “we can” mentality, and a strong and purpose driven leader to role model and inspire the required behaviours.
Last week I had the opportunity to present at ASB’s Lunch & Learn session for their employees. It was a great chance to share what I’ve learned about collaboration to achieve transformational change during my time with The Hunger Project. Below are my key takeaways.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together.
4 key elements of collaboration.
True collaboration is not easy. It requires a mindset clearly set in the “we can” mentality, and a strong and purpose driven leader to role model and inspire the required behaviours. Here are some of the key elements of collaboration that need to be met to create transformational change.
1. Aligned purpose.
True collaboration requires everyone to be joined by a common purpose. We must all be working together - on the same page and in the same direction. You cannot have a room with mis-aligned motivations and expect collaboration to occur. This is often difficult to achieve in the corporate world with different elements of the company having differing views and priorities, so a clear vision and purpose is a must. Do the work before the meetings - ensure that everyone understands and supports what you are trying to achieve before your enter into the discussions of how to achieve it. Find something that will resonate with a wide audience of people.
2. Create the conditions for collaboration.
People need to be ready to engage and work together in this aligned fashion otherwise it’s simply not collaboration. Too often we assume that people know how to collaborate and are ready to start when we are - sometimes that’s not the case. It’s really important to eliminate the barriers that exist between people so that collaboration can thrive. Try new and different ways of doing this. We use play in India because the women we work with don’t and never have had the opportunity to play. It completely takes them out of their comfort zones. Set up your room differently. Play a game - not your traditional ice breakers. If people can laugh together it immediately breaks down barriers and walls. Laughter is a powerful tool - especially in a business setting.
3. Trust, sacrifice, commitment and personal responsibility.
These are all difficult things to achieve and often go against our natural mindset. Some simple tips to get into this mindset is to not jump in automatically with an answer or an agenda. As leaders we often think that it’s our responsibility to drive the conversation - sit back and see what happens. Allow others a first crack at the solution. Create the conditions where people can take on personal responsibility and ensure that they are supported and feel comfortable to do so.
4. Diversity of thought and experience.
In order to achieve better and more sustainable solutions and outcomes you have to be able to call upon a myriad of thoughts, skills and experience. Find people that aren’t like you, that maybe aren’t a natural fit in the solution. Invite someone from a completely different department but who you feel has a different way of looking at situations and can provide a different viewpoint. If you are one of those people who “don’t go to meetings if you don’t know where you will add value” - do some more research into the meeting. Maybe there is an opportunity that you can add value - maybe your thinking will allow people to step outside their natural barriers.
The work of The Hunger Project is built around the concept of collaboration.
- We have created a network, or a series of interconnected parts, that has already enabled the end of hunger for 500,000 people in Africa. It is this interconnectedness which guarantees our success.
- The partnership between our investors and the communities that we work with in Africa, India, Bangladesh and Latin America is a true collaboration. One where both sides are working equally hard to support each other in creating the conditions and environments that will lead to the end of hunger and create a better world for all.
- Our village communities collaborate together in many different ways - from our Federations of elected women representatives in India to our Epicentres throughout Africa. We mobilise communities to collaborate and engage in the process of moving along a mindset pathway of ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’ to ‘We can’. This is where the real long lasting and sustainable solutions are made.
Bangladesh
Collaboration, when done properly, can end hunger!
One of the most impactful examples of collaboration that I’ve heard comes from Bangladesh, where a group of women in Bangladesh organically organised themselves into a support group. Each woman sacrificed a handful of their own rice each week which was combined together into a communal rice pool. Each woman was provided an opportunity to sell the communal rice at the market to get herself a starter income, so that she could begin working towards a life of self-reliance. For example, using the money to buy a chicken, and from that chicken earning an income allowing her to support her family and opening up doors like education for her children. Through this collaboration, these women were able to transform their lives and the lives of their family, and ultimately create sustainable generational change.
If you’d like to collaborate with our village partners to end hunger by 2030 while also undergo your own personal transformation, consider taking part in our personal development programme Awaken 2020.
Awaken at a glance.
Awaken is a personal development programme that enables people to discover what they are truly capable of. Throughout the programme, participants are challenged in their thinking and exposed to situations where they experience everything from discomfort and guilt through to gratitude, generosity and courage.
At the core of Awaken is a seven day visit to one of The Hunger Project’s programme countries - our Awaken 2020 programme is going to Ghana. Participants will witness the power of personal transformation shown by communities in Ghana who are making the courageous transformation from hunger and dependency to self-reliance every single day.
