Giving Compass' Take:

• Successful and sustainable cross-sector partnerships are particularly useful when trying to solve complex issues. 

• How can philanthropy build and sustain cross-sector partnerships? 

• Learn about the need for cross-sector collaboration. 

The first step for considering the possibility of a cross-sector partnership is to get very clear on the problem to be solved or, as Harvard University’s Clayton Christensen puts it, “the job to be done.” What is your company trying to achieve? Are you trying to capitalize on a new opportunity, mitigate a future risk, or address an ongoing challenge? Is the problem you face a simple, complicated, or wicked one?

Cross-sector partnerships are time-consuming to build and manage, so they are not terribly efficient or effective at solving simple problems. As David McGinty, global director of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), says, “If you can do it on your own, do it.” That will almost always be the easiest and most expedient way to address a simple problem.

However, if the problem you face is complicated or, heaven help you, wicked, then partnership may be a tool worth considering. Partnerships are a powerful tool for solving complicated and wicked problems because they enable companies to engage organizations and institutions that possess resources, capabilities, and expertise that private-sector companies lack.

Darian and her small sustainability team started by defining the problems they faced. They quickly realized that Thai Union faced three overlapping wicked problems—challenges that had little chance of being fixed unless Darian’s team could identify and work with partners who had the capabilities and resources to help them tackle the different facets of the problems.

Read the full article about cross-sector partnerships by Steve Schmida at Stanford Social Innovation Review.