Converging over Coffee - Courting Collaboration (4/5)
Once we go beyond the project team & business functions and out of the organization, we arrive at the industry ecosystem that consists of a range of organizations performing different roles to deliver the infrastructure (my sector of choice in this story). Collaboration takes on another layer of complexity as business interests become a big factor.
In any given ecosystem, the strengths of each of the role players / companies determine what can be done and what transformative change is possible. But it is the relationships & interactions between individual companies that have a big influence on the successful delivery of the infrastructure and the transformative change. If these outcomes are what we’re after, our work needs to shift more to those relationships & interactions to create the rising tide that lifts all boats.
Ecosystems for different industries are also not created the same. Some are by nature quite linear. The infrastructure ecosystem is however very interconnected - between owners, consultants, contractors, solution/technology providers, O&M service providers - which means the number of relationships & interactions multiply. It creates a more intense & complex competitive landscape, but also reveals unprecedented opportunity for those prepared to find transformative outcomes through collaboration.
