Strategy & Ecosystems, Part 3: Collaboration in Complex Ecosystems

Ecosystems become complex as soon as pen & paper are put aside in favor of action, such as communicating and collaborating with those organizations – individuals – that are drawn so neatly in the ecosystem map.

Why is that? I believe it’s because not enough time and energy is spent on developing a common vision. A well planned and executed session involving as many stakeholders from the ecosystem as possible can create a common vision. Too often, though, each entity in the ecosystem has its own vision based on its own reality. Skilful facilitation of the discussions is needed to bring out the full value of each, and to merge and emerge a common vision which has even greater value than its individual parts.

Below is a depiction of how I see ecosystems coming together to create a common vision. In the presence of a strong process facilitator, a common vision can transition to common action. Common action stays alive with good governance, defined by the members of the ecosystem. I was inspired for this work by Philip Kotler & Christian Sarkar’s work entitled “How Companies can Build a Purpose Platform for the Common Good.”