Driving system innovation with multiple organizations is a complex task, but when done right, it can lead to powerful transformations. Whether the goal is reshaping an industry, addressing climate change, or digitalizing a system, success requires collaboration, flexibility, and a focus on common goals.
Let’s try to outline some key tips and strategies to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities when multiple organizations need to work together to achieve large-scale innovation.
1. Attitude: The Right Mindset for Collaboration
Turn the Other Cheek: Practicing Stoicism for Long-Term Gains
In multi-organization collaborations, you’ll encounter envy, frustration, or negative attitudes. When a partner organization brings negativity to the table, adopting a stoic attitude can prevent escalation. Rather than reacting emotionally, accept that these behaviors often come from stress or fear. Patience and long-term thinking will pay off as relationships improve and tensions ease.
For instance, during a project to digitize healthcare records across different organizations, initial resistance and negativity from some partners were defused by focusing on the overall goals rather than reacting to every complaint. This patient approach kept the project on track.
Be Kind When You’re Strong: Lead with Empathy
Being in a position of power doesn’t mean overpowering others—it means creating an atmosphere of empathy and trust. Understanding that strange or difficult behavior often arises from pressure allows you to lead with kindness. If a partner is struggling to meet a deadline, offer help instead of punishment. When people feel supported, they are more likely to collaborate openly and constructively.
Demand Balance: Fair Exchange Creates Engagement
In collaborations, people often feel dissatisfied if they get their way too easily. When one organization receives a benefit, require something in return to ensure balance. This ensures that all parties feel invested and engaged in the process, creating a fair exchange and preventing any organization from feeling exploited.
For example, in a sustainability partnership between manufacturers and regulators, if a manufacturer receives faster regulatory approval, they might be required to contribute additional resources to community engagement, not because they need to, but because they get feel better and get more engaged. This ensures that all parties remain actively invested in the shared outcome.
2. Speed: Leveraging Momentum for Innovation
Embrace Fast Technology: Accelerate with the Right Tools
Technology moves fast, and so should you. Using the latest collaboration tools, like cloud-based project management platforms or real-time communication apps, can speed up the innovation process. These tools enable flexibility and quick decision-making, allowing partners to align and collaborate across organizational boundaries.
For instance, adopting collaboration platforms like Slack or Asana for managing a multi-company research project helped teams maintain speed and stay in sync, leading to faster breakthroughs and solutions.
Sprint Despite Slow Regulations: Don’t Wait to Start
Regulations can take time to catch up with innovation. Instead of letting potential regulatory hurdles slow you down, start by building prototypes and initiating dialogue. Address real problems when they arise, and don’t let hypothetical issues stall the process. This sprint-first mindset helps keep momentum going and encourages early successes.
Take the ride-sharing industry as an example. Despite facing regulatory uncertainties, companies like Uber moved quickly with pilot projects, starting the necessary conversations and ultimately reshaping transportation models globally.
Make It Fun: Drive Engagement Through Enjoyment
Engagement is key to system innovation, and a great way to drive it is by making the process enjoyable. Fun workshops, gamified challenges, and collaborative brainstorming sessions can spark enthusiasm and creativity. When people are enjoying the process, they’re more likely to engage deeply, and you’re more likely to reach a tipping point of commitment across organizations.
For example, using hackathons or innovation challenges within a smart city initiative not only generated innovative ideas but also brought people together with energy and excitement, accelerating progress.
3. Structure: Laying the Foundations for Success
Define Concepts Early: Align on Shared Language
When multiple organizations come together, misunderstandings can arise because different teams interpret key concepts differently. To avoid confusion later, take the time early on to define important terms and create a shared language. This common understanding prevents miscommunication and ensures that all organizations are working toward the same goals.
For example, in a circular economy project, getting all stakeholders to agree on what “sustainability” and “recycling” mean in the project’s context avoids ambiguity and keeps everyone on the same page.
Define by Exclusion: Keep Scope Open by Focusing on What’s Not Included
At the beginning of any system innovation process, it’s tempting to nail down the scope too early. Instead, maintain flexibility by defining what is not included, rather than what is. This leaves room for adaptation and innovation as new ideas emerge, allowing the project to evolve more naturally as collaboration deepens.
For instance, in a project focused on creating smart energy solutions, by clearly stating that “industrial energy systems” are out of scope, but leaving other aspects open, partners can remain adaptable without feeling constrained by early decisions.
Clarify Desired Outcomes: Focus on Results, Not Next Steps
When guiding a large, multi-organization collaboration, it’s better to focus on the overall desired outcome rather than dictating the next steps. By clearly articulating what success looks like, you empower teams to find the best path forward. This fosters creativity and allows for diverse approaches to emerge within the partnership.
In an inter-organizational transportation project, rather than telling each partner what actions to take, defining the goal of “reducing traffic congestion by 20% in three years” gives everyone the freedom to innovate toward that shared outcome.
4. Leadership: Leading with Neutrality and Clear Communication
Use External Leadership: Neutral Facilitators Ensure Objectivity
One of the biggest risks in multi-organization projects is allowing historical tensions or rivalries to derail collaboration. By bringing in a neutral third-party facilitator to lead the initial process, you create an environment where all partners feel respected and heard. This avoids conflicts related to past issues and ensures a level playing field for all organizations involved.
For example, in a cross-sector healthcare transformation initiative, using an external consultant to mediate between public hospitals and private companies prevented historical grievances from affecting the process and allowed all parties to focus on the future.
Prioritize Communication: Clear Pathways and Positive Attitudes
Many collaborative processes fall apart due to poor communication. Setting up clear communication pathways and maintaining a solution-focused attitude from the start can prevent misunderstandings from becoming bigger problems. Regular check-ins, transparent updates, and accessible communication channels are key to ensuring that everyone stays aligned.
In a system innovation project aiming to digitize public services, regular progress updates via shared digital platforms helped bridge communication gaps between tech developers and government agencies, preventing delays caused by misaligned expectations.
Innovation Through Cooperation
Initiating system innovation with multiple organizations is challenging, but by focusing on the right attitude, leveraging speed, building strong structures, and leading with clear communication, you can set the foundation for success. Approach challenges with patience, empathy, and a mindset of openness. Leverage technology and prototypes to maintain momentum and flexibility. Finally, create a collaborative structure with shared language and goals, and ensure that leadership is neutral and communication is transparent. These strategies will help navigate the complexities of multi-organization collaboration and drive impactful system transformation.
