A View from the Woods - how to collaborate on issues - Brief Article

Camping Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Peg Smith

In my more than twenty-five years in the youth development field, I've been involved in a variety of collaborative efforts. If you believe it takes a village to raise a child, you know it takes collaboration. My greatest opportunity came in 1990 when then-Indiana governor Evan Bayh hired me to develop a statewide service delivery system designed to maximize the opportunities for all children to reach their full potential. I was selected for this position as a result of working seventeen years mobilizing services for children and families in a nine-county area. This new initiative, however, would require all ninety-two Indiana counties to work together to achieve a common goal on behalf of children and families. Even with such a noble cause, collaboration is not easy. In creating the new delivery system, I drew upon the principles of collaboration that I'd used in my former job. I learned many valuable lessons in the process:

* Don't agree to collaborate just for the sake of collaboration. There must be a clearly defined purpose and articulated expectations.

* People know how to share. We've participated in "show and tell" since preschool. However, many never progressed beyond participatory play - they never learned to give and take.

* People generally know how to cooperate (cooperative play). Collaboration, however, requires you to do more than coordinate existing services. Collaboration often demands you change - your behavior, your service, your mind.

* We all have to learn to set aside our assumptions and enter the process with open eyes and mind. Doing so means you'll probably discover more options, greater access, and more opportunities to have impact.

As competitive as our world is, it is demanding greater collaboration. Our world is increasingly global yet we are establishing customized communities that are capable of infusing new energy through their unique collaborative efforts. The resulting synergy allows the "community" to survive in an increasingly competitive world. Welcome to the camp community!

Peg Smith

ACA Executive Director