Spark 22 – How to think more strategically: Partnerships: Example

To develop the skill of forging effective partnerships in strategic thinking, you can follow these steps:

1. Burn partnership into your brain: Just for a few months, as you sit to consider a strategic matter, consciously ask yourself: ‘Could partnering be more efficient, effective or simply better in this case?’
2. Identify potential partners: Start identifying organisations and entities whose missions, values and strategic goals align with yours. This includes both within and outside your immediate sector.
3. Assess complementarity: Evaluate how potential partners complement our strengths and weaknesses in relation to the idea. Look for synergies in resources, expertise and networks.
4. Establish clear objectives: Define clear objectives that the partnership can bring to the strategic thinking or idea.
5. Engage in open dialogue: Initiate conversations with potential partners around the idea at hand. Learn and teach together. Discuss mutual goals, expectations and the value each party brings to the table.

My goal is to get partnerships into your pre-frontal cortex so that you consider them reflexively. Once that’s done, standard partnership development techniques can take over.

How to think more strategically: fresh tactics

Deploying these contemporary approaches challenges the status quo, using fresh tactics and technologies to turn the age-old concept of partnerships on its head, reframing it for the complex, fast-moving world we find ourselves in:

• Leverage the gig economy: Instead of traditional long-term commitments, try project-based partnerships that pull in freelancers or smaller companies as short-term, but highly specialised partners. This lets you tap into very specific skill sets or market opportunities quickly and flexibly.

• Use blockchain-enabled contracts: Make partnership contracts transparent and tamper-proof using blockchain technology. It not only adds a layer of security but speeds up processes like verification, making the partnership agile and built on mutual trust.

• DeployAI-powered matchmaking: Use advanced machine learning algorithms to sift through potential partners, matching your organisation with those whose goals, values and capabilities align with yours. This data-driven approach saves time and increases the odds of a successful partnership.

• Use open innovation platforms: Create a digital space where potential partners can contribute ideas and projects in line with your strategic objectives. It’s a way to crowdsource partnerships and co-create value.

• Embrace social impact bonds: For public and social sector entities, social impact bonds are a fresh way to structure partnerships that align each party around measurable outcomes. Private investors provide upfront capital and are repaid by the government, but only when agreed-upon social outcomes are achieved.

• Employ sustainable supply chain collaborations: Team up with companies in your supply chain to co-create more-sustainable processes. Not only does this optimise costs and efficiencies, it also elevates the social responsibility profile for everyone involved.