Why Trying to Make People Collaborate Freaks Them Out

Lisa B. Kwan

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">Idea in Brief</h4>
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  <h5>The Problem</h5>
  <p>When leaders launch cross-group initiatives, they often fail to consider how the proposed collaboration might threaten the security of those involved. Groups may feel that their territory is being encroached on and reflexively assume a defensive posture.</p>
  <h5>The Solution</h5>
  <p>Leaders who want to foster effective cross-group collaboration should start by doing a threat assessment. How might the collaboration threaten the identity, legitimacy, and control of the groups involved? Only after leaders have checked their collaboration blind spot should they focus on logistics, processes, and outcomes.</p>
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</article-ideainbrief><p>A few years ago, the leaders of a multibillion-dollar energy systems company, which I’ll call EnerPac, decided to offer an after-sales service plan for one of its products. The new plan promised to generate a sizable new revenue stream and was strategically important for the company. The key to success would be figuring out how to integrate the service plan seamlessly with the sales process. And the best way to make that happen, the company’s leaders knew, would be to bring people from the sales and service departments together and ask them to collaborate.</p>

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<p>Leaders are well aware of the central role that cross-group collaboration plays in business today. So in planning for collaborative initiatives, they think carefully about logistics and processes, incentives and outcomes. And that makes perfect sense. But in doing so they forget to consider how the groups they&#8217;re asking to work together might experience the request&#8212;especially when they are being told to break down walls, divulge information, sacrifice autonomy, share resources, or even cede responsibilities. All too often, groups feel threatened by such demands: What if the collaboration is a sign that they&#8217;ve become less important to the company? What if they give up important resources and responsibilities and never get them back?</p>
<p>This is the &#8220;collaboration blind spot.&#8221; To make sure collaborative initiatives are successful, leaders must first identify threats to group security and take steps to minimize them and discourage defensive behaviors. Only then should they focus on process and outcomes.</p>

The Collaboration Blind Spot

Leaders are well aware of the central role that cross-group collaboration plays in business today. So in planning for collaborative initiatives, they think carefully about logistics and processes, incentives and outcomes. And that makes perfect sense. But in doing so they forget to consider how the groups they’re asking to work together might experience the request—especially when they are being told to break down walls, divulge information, sacrifice autonomy, share resources, or even cede responsibilities. All too often, groups feel threatened by such demands: What if the collaboration is a sign that they’ve become less important to the company? What if they give up important resources and responsibilities and never get them back? This is the “collaboration blind spot.” To make sure collaborative initiatives are successful, leaders must first identify threats to group security and take steps to minimize them and discourage defensive behaviors. Only then should they focus on process and outcomes.

The Collaboration Blind Spot

Summary.

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