Teamership: Co-operative is not collaborative

Every senior leader that I speak with is seeking better collaboration - within their team and across their business.

It’s worth making a distinction between co-operative and collaborative.

Here is a simplified approach to a concept presented by Randall Peterson and Kristin Behfar in a 2022 Harvard Business Review article, we can see that shows the value as teams and organisations support interactions that shift away from competition, move beyond co-operation and become collaborative.

COMPETITIVE

In competitive relationships, we assume our interactions are a zero-sum game. For one person to win, the other must lose. It stands to reason then, that in these relationships, we will focus on protecting or advancing self-interest.

CO-OPERATIVE

In co-operative relationships, an underlying assumption is that there is some benefit in individuals working together. That benefit lies in situations of mutual self-interest. Beyond that, individuals will also avoid acting against the interests of others. It is a functional and transactional relationship where we complete tasks as requested and required but maintain self-interest.

COLLABORATIVE

Collaborative relationships extend cooperative work and there is an investment in the value of the relationship. In a collaborative relationship, intrinsic value is placed upon the relationship –beyond transactional value – which allows for the discovery and emergence of mutual interests.

Something to consider this week.

Which of these best describes your teams' interactions?

• We focus on protecting or advancing self-interest.
• We complete tasks as requested and required but maintain self-interest.
• We enable the discovery and emergence of mutual interests.

Go well,

Keegan