The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

We experience this truth when we enjoy a gourmet meal at an upscale restaurant, watch a family playing together on the beach, or attend a community cultural extravaganza.  We know these precious moments don't appear by magic. All require a blending of distinctly different elements, ongoing negotiation, and overall coordination - in short, collaboration. 

In spite of knowing the benefits of collaborative efforts, we often decide it's easier to do the job ourselves following tried and true (but slightly stale) patterns of the past.  If you'd like to try something new and start or renew a collaboration, I can help:

• Identify partners
• Define roles and responsibilities
• Establish coordination systems
• Overcome inevitable impasses
• Fine tune communication patterns
• Add checks and balances
• Make the implicit explicit.

Interested in exploring how we can work together?  Email me at maryann@paynecns.com,   send me a fax at (909) 988-9017or phone (909) 391-3524.

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QUICK  TIP

To assemble an interesting group of potential partners for a new collaboration, make a list of 5 or more agencies  that provide the same or similar service as you do. Next list 5 or more organizations that provide totally different services. Include profit and non-profit agencies, government bureaus, retail and professional firms, groups that provide services and those that provide products, departments of educational institutions and faith based organizations. 

Get together as a group with a pot of coffee and a tray of cheese and fruit and explore:

• What unique services (or products) do we each provide?

• What do we each need?  

Soon, you'll discover the questions change to:

• How can you use my services or products?

• How can I use your services or products?

You may discover, as I did when I recently tried a jicama and pineapple salad, that fruits and vegetables often can be mixed with delightful results.

One caveat: For starters, choose groups that have approximately the same number of staff, size of budget, and service area. A major manufacturing plant will initially have little in common with a family day care provider. Eventually on-site or subsidized child care might be a possibility, but a hair salon looking for reliable, flexible care for employee's children may produce a more immediate match for our family day care provider.

If you'd like more ideas on how to make collaboration a reality in your community,  return the form at the bottom of the page or phone me at (909) 391-3524 between 8 am and 8 pm pacific standard time. 

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Last modified: April 04, 2004