governance – brett boston

partnership (1)

noun part·ner·ship \ ˈpärt-nər-ˌship \

Definition of partnership

:an arrangement in which people engage in an activity or business with one another or share something with each other

There is growing public sector interest in partnerships. Once found only in the private sector, the concept of partnering is increasingly important to how the public sector approaches:

resource constraints,
increasingly complex problems, and
implementation of sustainable solutions.

In this new series of articles, we will discuss new concepts in public sector partnering. We outline the elements of a good partnership. We also provide some suggestions for assessing partnerships governance and performance.

It is important to define partners as being different from stakeholders. Partners bring resources to the fight. Stakeholders bring issues, points of view, and positions. Partners invest time, talent, and treasure – the 3 Ts – to mutually determined problems.

As public sector budgets remain flat, or decline, hiring and contracting for services are no longer options. The public sector is increasingly seeking partners to provide the skills, funding, data, staff, and competencies that it does not possess. We refer to this joining of resources as “collaborative capital.” Collaborative capital is the sharing of intellectual capital, political capital, labor, and financial capital among many organizations to address a defined problem.

Intellectual Capital: the data, unique processes, software, and insight that is the basis of each partner’s business model. It includes the ability to confer legitimacy on any of the above.
Political Capital: the ability of each partner to influence public policy, regulation, law, and public budgets.
Labor: the staff and volunteers each partner can commit toward ongoing governance, developing solutions, and implementation.
Financial Capital: the actual dollar funding each partner provides toward the solution.

Each of these 4 elements of collaborative capital are generally required to solve public sector problems. Each partner should provide some or all the 4. Some partners bring only one of the above and others all four. The most successful partnerships have the necessary and sufficient partners to provide all 4 types of collaborative capital.

In the next segment, we will discuss each of the collaborative capital elements in more detail, and how they play out in public sector partnering.

Short-term thinking is in the ascendancy.

A lack of long-term perspective is impacting all aspects of modern society:

There are no national strategies on energy, future technology development, and for the first time in generations, no societal commitments on a shared vision for a better future.
Short-term focus on huge investment returns is leading to expectations of returns well beyond what was once respectable. This is driving investor expectations that can only be met through complex derivative and mathematically driven financial instruments that few understand, and that are so highly leveraged, that the global economy now pivots on unexpected global incidents.
Most organizations are head down in tinkering around the edges, with few attempting to reinvent themselves with dynamic and innovative models of organizational design and product innovation.

My posts will focus on the value of strategy and shared vision to addressing some aspects of these issues. I will cover the creation of informal multi-organizational partnerships and how they can cooperatively serve to address increasingly complex issues. How to create intentional strategies that move the needle toward a shared vision held by any organization or multi-organizational entity. As importantly, we will also explore the value of involving a broad array of interested, but nontraditional partners in today’s strategic thinking and show how inclusion of these new and unconventional players complicates planning, but greatly improves implementation.

Together, let’s explore what’s possible in strategic planning and vision setting.

Looking forward to a creative and fruitful dialogue.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Tag: governance

A Growth in Public Sector Partnering

partnership (1)

Definition of partnership

home