--- title: "Collective Impact: Innovation in Collaboration" description: Liz Weaver challenges us to change the way we think in order to tackle problems differently. Liz encourages us to draw innovation from collective impact. image: https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Photos/Image%20Library/collaboration%20blog.jpeg --- [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=200&height=47&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) # Collective Impact: Innovation in Collaboration Posted on December 10, 2013 [By Liz Weaver](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/liz-weaver) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![collaboration blog.jpeg](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Photos/Image%20Library/collaboration%20blog.jpeg?width=320&name=collaboration%20blog.jpeg)There is increasing interest in the design and execution of Collective Impact collaborations. The [**five conditions**](http://vibrantcanada.ca/blogs/liz-weaver/lessons-vibrant-communities-applying-collective-impact) of collective impact, on the surface, seem both intuitive and appropriate.  It’s the execution that often has us spinning.  Collective Impact is, as my colleague and fellow blogger Jay Connor so effectively says, about working differently.  (Read his blog – [**www.workingdifferently.org**](http://www.workingdifferently.org/)  for more insights about how hard this is to get right - hard but not impossible.) John Kania, co-author of the [ground-breaking articles](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact) on collective impact commented recently that collective impact 'is not counter-intuitive but it is counter-cultural'. He is on the money. We know that we have to work differently if we want to begin moving the needle on some of the challenging issues facing our communities like poverty, homelessness, neighbourhood revitalization and climate change. We have to get beyond our individual agendas and really focus on what is best for the health of our whole community and its citizens. It is about working on the five conditions of collective impact together - advancing them all. But that's hard when the organizations and systems we work in are designed for singular success and singular credit. How can we work collectively, share and contribute to change and still get recognition for our roles? This is one of the execution tensions embedded in a collective impact approach. To quote John Kania again, this approach 'is not about credit but credibility'. He is right, collective impact asks us to seriously reflect on our real purpose. Are we working to maintain our jobs or to change our communities for the collective benefit of all?  That's the innovation of collective impact - the tension it creates and the opportunity as Jay says, to work differently and get to real impact. Are you up for the challenge? Topics: [Collective Impact](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/collective-impact), [Liz Weaver](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/liz-weaver) ![Liz Weaver](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Website_Author_Liz_Weaver.jpg) ### By [Liz Weaver](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/liz-weaver) Liz Weaver is passionate about the power and potential of communities to create impact on complex issues. She is Tamarack’s former Co-CEO and Director of the Learning Centre, where she provided strategic leadership and led key learning initiatives, including collective impact capacity-building services for the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Liz is one of Tamarack’s highly regarded trainers and has developed and delivered curriculum on collaborative governance, leadership, collective impact, community innovation, influencing policy change, and social media for impact. ## Related Posts [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Waterloo-crisis-post-cropped-widescreen.jpg)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/response-to-the-june-2023-hate-acts-at-the-university-of-waterloo-campus?hsLang=en-us) #### [Response to the June 2023 Hate Acts at the University of Waterloo Campus](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/response-to-the-june-2023-hate-acts-at-the-university-of-waterloo-campus?hsLang=en-us) [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Community-driven-pathways-blog-post-staff-office-widescreen.png)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/five-community-driven-pathways-for-systems-change?hsLang=en-us) #### [Five Community-Driven Pathways for Systems Change](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/five-community-driven-pathways-for-systems-change?hsLang=en-us) [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%2815%29.png)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/expanding-collective-impact-across-the-globe?hsLang=en-us) #### [Expanding Collective Impact Across the Globe](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/expanding-collective-impact-across-the-globe?hsLang=en-us) [![BACK TO THE LATEST](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/316071/e6ffa9bb-4467-4833-8ecc-eb340b11d829.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/316071/e6ffa9bb-4467-4833-8ecc-eb340b11d829) [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=3401&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) ### Tamarack [Home](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) [Latest](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest) [Events](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/eventlisting?hsLang=en-us) [Donate](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/donate?hsLang=en-us) [About](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/whoweare?hsLang=en-us) ### Follow Us [** ** ](https://www.facebook.com/TamarackInstitute) [** ** ](https://twitter.com/Tamarack_Inst) [** ** ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tamarack-institute-for-community-engagement)   In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth we honour and acknowledge that our work occurs across Turtle Island (North America), which has been home since time immemorial to the ancestors of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. ### Subscribe Be in the know. 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