Recently I’ve seen the power of community (while planting trees) and the benefit of reaching out to those I may not always agree with (in an air quality conference). Today I’m hoping to distill some thoughts about the value of collaborating with other people, whatever the cause.
I had the privilege this week to help run a workshop sponsored by the Transportation Research Board on freight institutional arrangements. Bear with me here. An “institutional arrangement” is nothing more (or less) than a collaboration of people, or organizations, that is made official among its participants. The collaborations we were talking about were ones designed to further freight projects. The obvious local example – and one we examined at the conference – is the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, which built the $2.4 billion Alameda Corridor that speeds freight trains from the ports to railyards twenty miles to the north.
One of the workshop attendees offered several “C” words to describe the elements needed for a successful collaboration. You need the participants to have a common issue or concern. You need their commitment to examine the issue and share information they have about it. You need some way to coordinate their efforts – regular meetings, a neutral venue, documented follow-up. You need one or more champions – leaders who are committed to the cause and finding solutions. You need (and this is a key idea) “a commitment to achieve consensus.” You don’t have to have consensus – but you do have to have each participant’s commitment to seek it.
Another attendee remarked to me that it’s not always natural for people to collaborate. Each of us, whether individually or representing an organization, which most of us do in some aspect of our lives, has certain goals. Our natural preference is to get those goals achieved – whether or not they match with someone else’s goals. But finding ways to collaborate can help us advance some of our goals, even though it might mean delaying achievement of others. And as I’ve seen recently, collaboration can have side benefits, like gaining a deeper understanding of a problem, developing new relationships, encouraging dialogue – or getting a whole lot of trees planted.
One local collaboration I’m part of is something we call the Public Space Mobility Group. We’re a collection of
There’s much more that can be said about collaboration. It’s not all smooth sailing, to be sure. Goals conflict, personalities clash, collaborations fail sometimes. But where you have a common issue, a champion, and a commitment to reach consensus, you have an opportunity to transcend “us versus them” thinking to focus on what will benefit every participant. One of my very favorite quotes is from anthropologist Margaret Mead, who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”