When I think about the topic of collaborations, one of my favorite quotes from Ray Dalio always pops into my head: “Great collaboration feels like playing jazz.” Of course, in this context, Mr. Dalio talks about the importance of you not always needing to be the driver — how sitting back and letting others take charge is beneficial, acknowledging that it is normal to figure things out as you go along.
You don’t need to have all the answers up front and you don’t always need to follow a script — just like jazz. I apply this principle when developing engagement strategies, whether they are internally people-focused or externally customer-focused, as it embraces a human-centered design approach. I translate the combination of the ‘jazz concept’ and human-centered design to a non-transactional creative approach to collaborations with both organizations co-designing innovative solutions for collective impact…READ ON
