Keynote AddressBuilding True Blue Knowledge Partnerships

Design Insights from The Global Knowledge Initiative

Sara Farley, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, GKI EAS Congress | 17 November 2015

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Trash and toxic chemical pollution

Overfishing

Trash and toxic chemical pollution

Acidification

Oil Spills

Resource exploitation

Aquatic invasive species

Sea temperature

rise

Growing population densities

Lack of knowledge

sharing Poor policy coordination

Vulnerable populations’ voices

unheard

No incentive for action

Tragedy of the commons

Photo Credit: Pristine Seas, National Geographic Live

3Photo Credit: Pristine Seas, National Geographic Live

Models for Collaboration Formation

Skills for Collaborative Innovation

Network Metrics

Incentives for Sustained Partnerships

Trained Network Facilitators & Managers

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What went wrong?

Knowledge Partnership Formation

Knowledge Partnership

Maintenance

Knowledge Partnership

Effectiveness

Common Pitfalls Around:

• Different views of the ideal future veer teams off track• Assumptions about the challenge often go unstated

Common Pitfalls in:Knowledge Partnership FORMATION

Conflicting Visions

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Common Pitfalls in:Knowledge Partnership MAINTENANCE

• When groups lack benefits from partnership, they disengage• It’s about more than the money

Mis-Aligned IncentivesObservations

Common Pitfalls in:Knowledge Partnership MAINTENANCE

• When physically distant, managing touch points is crucial• Without a co-created process, the partnership is not a priority

Establishing Collaborative Innovation ProcessObservations

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Common Pitfalls in:Knowledge Partnership EFFECTIVENESS

• Diversity of thought and experience is key for innovation• Complex problems persist without engaging diverse perspectives

Lack of DiversityObservations

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Common Pitfalls in:Knowledge Partnership EFFECTIVENESS

• Poor assessment of resource needs means outreach is not targeted

• Lack of coordination causes duplicated efforts & unnecessary competition

Resource Gaps / DuplicationObservations

The Power of Knowledge Partnerships / Networks

• Increase efficiency of problem solving

• Prevent duplication of individual or organizational efforts

• Enhance the power of advocacy and resource development for the initiative

• Inter-firm cooperation accelerates rate of technological innovation

• Provide a more systematic and comprehensive approach to addressing problems

Empirical evidence…has shown that inclusion of random diverse collaborators in problem solving can increase computation performance by a factor of 10 to 100.”

--Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School

Network Advantages in Problem-Solving

Regardless of whether collaboration is driven by strategic motives…connectivity to an inter-organizational network and competence at managing collaborations have become key drivers of a new logic of organizing…

This view of organizations and networks as vehicles of producing, synthesizing, and distributing ideas recognizes that the success of firms is increasingly linked to the depth of their ties to organizations in diverse fields.

WEBER AND KHADEMIAN (2008)“Wicked Problems, Knowledge Challenges, and Collaborative Capacity Buildings in Network Settings,”

Public Administration Review, Vol. 68, Issue 2, pp 334-349.

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CHALLENGE IS KING

1

Design Principle

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CHALLENGE IS KINGDESIGN PRINCIPLE 1

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Integrated, complex challenges

Smaller, more discrete challenges

HMW = How

might we…

CHALLENGE IS KINGDESIGN PRINCIPLE 1

SYSTEMS IN MOTION

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Design Principle

SYSTEMS IN MOTION

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 2

SYSTEMS IN MOTION

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 2

Problem Space

Broader Context

Innovation System

Macro

Meso

Micro

REIMAGINE CAPACITY BUILDING

3

Design Principle

REIMAGINE CAPACITY BUILDING

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 3

REIMAGINE CAPACITY BUILDING

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 3

MANAGE PURPOSE-

DRIVEN

4

Design Principle

MANAGE PURPOSE-DRIVEN NETWORKS

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 4

MANAGE PURPOSE-DRIVEN NETWORKS

DESIGN PRINCIPLE 4

CAPITALIZE ON FEEDBACK

LOOPS

5

Design Principle

CAPITALIZE ON FEEDBACK LOOPSDESIGN PRINCIPLE 5

CAPITALIZE ON FEEDBACK LOOPSDESIGN PRINCIPLE 5

Design Principles Underpinning Durable, Effective Knowledge Partnerships

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GKI’s Partnership Principles

1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 113Washington, DC 20005 USA

www.globalknowledgeinitiative.org

For questions, please contact Sara Farley:sara@gkinitiative.org