Fast Company November 1998 By Pamela Kruger

"It Takes Two"

This article discusses the strengths of building partnerships and how they best work. Building partnerships is not new to Extension programming because Extension staff have long recognized the greater impact collaborative programs can have.

Kruger looks at the benefits a great partner can bring to a new company or prospect. She interviews Richard Masterson and Larry Smith. They talked about their tremendous success by combining their talents and how well they complimented each other. Smith said, "Whatever your situation, your best resource is a great partner. If you want to go places, you shouldn't try to go it alone."

I agree with this opinion through my own experiences in Extension programming. Our goal is to positively impact our audiences. From a cost-effective point of view, it is extremely important to reach as many people as possible. Forming collaboratives is a sensible approach in reaching these goals. I have programmed with Farm Service Agency, County Environmental Services, and agribusinesses to form collaboratives that have reached large audiences and delivered high quality impacting programs.

Have these partnerships or collaboratives just happened naturally and always ran smoothly? No, but in most cases they have worked well because we had had similar goals and objectives. Avoiding duplication and recognizing each one's strengths has been the primary objective in our programs. It is important that every partner sorts out goals and responsibilities.

I agreed with Riane Eisler when she wrote about the tree myths about partners. Myth #1 - Partnerships don't have hierarchies; Myth #2 - Partnerships always require consensus; Myth #3 - Partners don't compete.

Partnerships need to have diverse opinions and conflict should not be considered negative. The strength of a collaborative is where people are heard and differences of opinion are respected. Eisler talks about partnerships are not completely flat organizations. They do have leaders, but those leaders play multiple roles. They take turns assuming leadership for tasks where their knowledge and ability apply. They don't issue orders that people must obey without question, they inspire and facilitate.

I have never totally accepted in the University of Minnesota Extension Service that we are a flat organization, however if we operate as Riane Eisler describes a partnership, I can accept that.

The other component in partnerships is the spirit of competition. I support Eisler's view that competition should exist, but not be adversarial. It should be based on achievement and spur on our partners to raise their performance standards and raise the program quality.

I believe the success of collaboratives is as Consultant Robert Hargrove said, "in genuinely collaborative relationships, people focus on who has the relevant knowledge and expertise, not who has the title."

This article by Pamela Kruger supports what our county board and Extension Committee feel about collaboratives. They want high quality programs utilizing the best resources available. Craig Rubis, County Commissioner says, "with the ever increasing need to hold expenses down for non-mandated programs like Extension, it is critical to form collaboratives and maintain cost effective programming.

Continuing to develop the skills in building partnerships and utilizing outside resources seems like the most sensible approach to Extension's future presence

-- Anonymous, January 20, 1999