A number of years ago I read a series of leadership books written by Max Depree, former CEO of the furniture maker Herman Miller. These books were inspiring both in their simplicity and also in their application. In many ways the design and content of the books – Leadership is an Art, Leadership Jazz and Leading without Power – were formative contributions to my own style of leadership and my career path.
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There is increasing interest in the design and execution of Collective Impact collaborations. The five conditions 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 for more insights about how hard this is to get right - hard but not impossible.)
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This week the Toronto Star featured an article on the newest Ashoka Fellows – the visionaries in our midst, the people with bold ideas, the trailblazers – and we at Tamarack are so proud that Paul Born has been recognized for his approach to addressing complex social issues by capitalizing on the power of local collaboration.
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The word "innovation" conjures up positive imagery. We see it as something we want to be known for. It's creative, desirable, inspiring, and we sense that if we can do it, if we can achieve it, we will lift ourselves up above the status quo, not to mention those who are quite comfortable in the box of convention.
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Collective impact is all the rage these days. The concepts put forward in the paper that appeared in the Stanford Social Innovation Review in the Winter 2011 by FSG Social Impact Consultants have resonated with collaborative tables across Canada, the United States and internationally. The five conditions of collective impact include a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication and a backbone infrastructure. Simple in design, much more challenging in the practice.
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I have been designing, facilitating and hosting organizational and community events for more than twenty years. While I do believe in the adage from Open Space that "whoever comes IS the right people", at the same time, I appreciate that to build a robust and shared vision, or to generate new ideas for how to address a complex shared issue, it is essential that individuals -- or sectors -- that hold a key perspective should be present.
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