Leading Across Boundaries: Creating Collaborative Agencies in a Networked World

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A Framework for Collaboration

Behind all the current buzz about collaboration is a discipline ....If it contained a silicon chip, we’d all be excited.

—John Gardner

 

In 2004, Roosevelt Johnson spoke to one of my management classes about his experience in leading the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. His opening comment was telling. “You know, I didn’t really have a clear game plan when we started working with the California universities. I knew there was a huge need, but I didn’t understand that there’s a structure or method to collaboration; we just kind of felt our way.” I’ve met dozens of collaborative leaders who have voiced similar sentiments.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to collaboration, ...