Focus and Organizational Direction
Collaboration’s success depends upon a company clearly declaring what it wants to accomplish. Without this definition of organizational direction and shorter-term goals and objectives, we don’t know what end we are collaborating towards; the entire process of collaboration becomes unlikely to contribute to the success of the company. The rigor of providing this focus needs to be present at every level of the company: from defining the organizational direction to declaring the purpose and objectives of a meeting or discussion. All the other practices of The Collaborative Way then provide a powerful environment for accomplishing these objectives.

Two Guiding Principles:
Inclusion:
Becoming effective at Inclusion is essential to effective collaboration. A workforce that is not included in the big picture, including the realities of its marketplace, will not be effective at collaborating. When we skillfully include others in the decision making process, we end up with better and more informed decisions. It’s also easier to gain the needed support to implement the decision, and being included reinforces people’s ownership of their accountabilities.

Alignment:
The key to Alignment is keeping alive the question, “Are we addressing the issue, policy or problem with a regard for building alignment?” versus forcing our view or merely going along with the prevailing view. While there are times we must take action without taking the time to build alignment, if we make this our standard mode of operation, we will kill the collaborative energy in our company. It takes skilful use of all the practices of The Collaborative Way to gain the true power of Alignment.