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Collaboration and what we can learn from slime mould

01/01/2015 By Max Hardy 2 Comments

Collaboration and what we can learn from slime mould.

I’ve been reading a terrific book titled ‘Collaborative Leadership: Building relationships, handling conflict and sharing control’ by David Archer and Alex Cameron.

Drawing on the earlier work of Steven Johnson in his book ‘Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software’ they refer to the behaviour of an organism known as slime mould. Slime mould isn’t actually a mould at all; it’s a single celled amoeba-like organism which usually spends most of its time minding its own business, doing its own thing. However, when resources are scarce it has an amazing ability to join forces with others to become a more complex organism to move toward other sources of food. Then, when life becomes a bit easier, it reverts to being a separate single celled organism, happily doing its own thing.

Pretzel slime mould

It’s a brilliant metaphor! 

For a start, it shows how important the environment is in compelling organisations to behave differently. The operating environment demands innovation, and collaboration is the vehicle to enable this innovation.

It also reminds us that we do not need to collaborate all of the time, and on everything. We do it because it makes sense and we only need to collaborate when circumstances require it. We have much to learn about reading the signals and appreciating when the environment is complex.

Another lesson from the slime mould metaphor is that we don’t have to lose our identity when we collaborate. While slime mould has to share control to reap the benefits of collaboration it has its own identity, and can easily revert to being as it was before once conditions allow.

In the last few weeks we have been working in a range of industries looking at challenges that demand new, innovative responses. The challenge of addressing alarming health statistics in remote Australian communities is one. The challenge for emergency agencies to respond more quickly and be more agile during catastrophic bushfires is another. The challenge of creating an environment for start-up businesses to flourish in areas not known for having an entrepreneurial spirit is a third. And the challenge of redesigning the delivery of services to be more appropriate, more efficient and more effective is a fourth.

Leaders in health, emergency, business and service delivery could do worse than consider the metaphor of the slime mould. If their survival requires them to share control with others without losing their identity, then joining up in a collaboration to access the intelligence and resources of all their stakeholders would be a good start to any journey to co-create solutions to these complex problems.

We have been inspired by the way people join together in a collective response to challenges when given the opportunity, in a way that reflects the metaphor of the survival of the slime mould. As Archer and Cameron say,“Collaboration isn’t a moral choice – it’s a business necessity!”

Originally posted on Twyfords website 16th December 2013.

www.twyfords.com.au

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Collaborative Governance, Health, Leadership

Comments

  1. Christine Hastie says

    23/01/2015 at 12:44 AM

    What a great way of putting it! So simple and logical. Thanks for letting my repost this to my blog, Max!

    Reply

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  1. Collaboration and what we can learn from slime mould - Christine Hastie says:
    23/01/2015 at 12:36 AM

    […] when collaborating and that collaboration helps solve complex problems. A big thanks to Max for sharing his thoughts […]

    Reply

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Becky Hirst

'Max is one of the leading superstars of community engagement and collaborative governance in Australia. Since I first met him as my trainer in Adelaide back in 2007, I've admired his approach. He's passionate, dedicated, admired in the field and I look forward to seeing the next steps of his career unfold. Watch out world!'

Crispin Butteriss, Bang the Table

'Max is a long time colleague, mentor and friend. He has a deft touch as a facilitator and collaboration strategist due his deeply developed empathetic listening skills, along with the experience and wisdom of many years of working on thorny problems with people from all walks of life'. Crispin Butteriss, PhD Co-founder and Chief Practice

Kellie King

'I have had the pleasure of both being a participant in a fantastic training session run by Max, and also as a client. Max was of tremendous assistance navigating through a challenging engagement process with great support, advice and good humour. Thank you Max.' Kellie King General Manager – Community & Corporate Services, Wannon Water

Beatrice Briggs

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Amy Hubbard, Capire

“Max is a trusted and respected colleague and friend of Capire. He is always able to provide us with a sound, strategic and independent perspective – even on the toughest projects in very complex communities” Amy Hubbard CEO, Capire.

Vivien Twyford

'I worked with Max for 17 years and appreciate his honesty, integrity and ability to connect with people at all levels. I learned much from him, particularly around Appreciative Inquiry, the appreciative approach and the value of deliberation. While I miss him, I have confidence that he will continue to be a wise advisor and

Carol M Anderson

'If one were to ask me who was the best facilitator and facilitation trainer in the world, I would unequivocally answer “Max Hardy.” As the public involvement manager at one of the largest U.S.-based environmental engineering firms, I often took along my notes from Max’s facilitation class to meet with clients and, on their behalf, with the public.

Craig Wallace

I have worked with Max Hardy on two complex projects which took deliberative democracy and applied it to new problems. In 2007 at a ceremony in Arizona, USA Max along with the ACT Disability Advisory Council was awarded the IAP2 (International) Award for "Project of the Year" for our Citizens Jury project which provided scorecard

Eugene McGarrell, FACS

'Max Hardy has worked with my senior executive team and local stakeholders to facilitate the co-creation of social wellbeing strategies. Max’s style is both collaborative and supportive and he gets the best from people involved. I highly recommend Max to anyone who is embarking on a process of co-creation.' Eugene McGarrell District Director, Northern Sydney

Lisa Rae

I first encountered Max in Auckland when he delivered IAP2 training I was attending. Many years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work with him on two significant local government projects in Melbourne using co-design and deliberative engagement approaches. Max’s great strength was helping council decision makers understand their role in the engagement process and

Lara Damiani

'I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Max in action facilitating the Citizen's Jury for People With Disability Australia in Sydney last month which I was filming. Max's tagline "results through collaboration" is spot on. It was pure magic watching Max create collaboration and results from a randomly selected jury - 12 very unique personalities

Jessie Keating

Working with Max is a delight. Max’s facilitation, collaboration and problem solving style is respectful and calm, along with being both accessible and professional. The most significant project we have worked on with Max was the planning and undertaking of a community symposium, focused on the drafting of our city’s 20 year strategy, MV2040. We

The Honourable Andrew Powell MP

'I have always been impressed with Max’s ability to navigate and resolve the thorny issues through collaboration.  He involves all participants right from the beginning: asking “what’s the question that needs answering here”? His efforts alongside John Dengate in the journey that was The Queensland Plan were stellar and he was a significant contributor to

Ian Dixon, Dixon Partnering Solutions

'I have worked with Max on many occasions and have great respect for his skills and knowledge around community engagement and collaboration. He is an expert trainer and a strong advocate for Appreciative Inquiry approaches.' Ian Dixon, Principal, Dixon Partnering Solutions

Moira Deslandes

'Max is a democracy enthusiast. He finds ways to enable, empower and encourage every voice to be heard and designs processes that foster the principle: every voice is worth hearing.' Moira Deslandes Director, Moira Deslandes  Consulting  

Anna Kelderman

'Max's extensive experience with deliberative engagement, as well as his uniquely calming facilitation style, has helped bring about a step-change in the type of public engagement expected in Western Australia. It has been an absolute pleasure to partner with and learn from the best in the business, and I continue to look for opportunities to

Lindy Fentiman

'I have had the pleasure of working with Max when he ventures up to sunny Queensland!  He is a generous, insightful and highly skilled professional who absolutely practices what he believes in.  Nobody understands the importance of collaboration, engagement and the challenges this brings for organisations better than Max!  He is an excellent coach, facilitator

Courtney Brown, Director, BDR Projects

'I have known and worked with Max for about two years, however I have been very aware of his career and engagement experience applied to major projects across industry sectors for a much longer period. Max has been at the forefront of pioneering new mechanisms and methodologies for genuine engagement and this resonates for his

Liz Mackevicius

'Max worked with us to design and execute a series of workshops based on the citizen jury principles, to enable a conversation between community members about the growth and change expected to occur in a challenging inner city municipality. Max understood the key issues at hand, gave expert advice and worked with us to tailor

Barbara Dart

Max recently facilitated a two day course for us at Council about tackling the internal and external challenges of community engagement. Max is an exceptional facilitator and his ability to draw on experiences across such a broad and diverse background in CE is invaluable to those before him. I would highly recommend Max to anyone

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