Partnerships in paradise
Starting a new partnership is not without its challenges — thankfully there’s some great reality TV that might help make the task a little easier.
Pop quiz: about which recent Australian reality TV offering is the following excerpt -
“…romances will blossom, tensions will rise, love triangles will form, and friendships and relationships will be tested. Drama will build until the last remaining couples head off on secluded fantasy dates that will test the strength of their relationships.”
If you guessed Bachelor in Paradise, you’re correct. Of course, I haven’t (yet) watched a single episode — not one, none at all — but the plot sounds relatively straightforward: bring a group of (attractive) people together and see who gets along. Behind the scenes, I imagine, are the show’s producers and casting agents scouring the country for suitable singles that will engage in a strange mating dance, vying for the attention of one another, as well as some outliers with tension, drama and intrigue to propel the storyline.
While Bachelor in Paradise is intended for entertainment, it is also about something which is fundamental to most of us- starting relationships, in this case, romantic ones. I’m not negating or omitting the complex and terrific conversations that the Bachelor franchise has instigated about misogyny, class, politics, sex, gender — but, that’s not what this particular post is about.
And, I certainly won’t pretend to be an expert on relationships — oddly, my application to be on the show wasn’t successful — yet a core focus of our professional work is about relationships, particularly those among diverse stakeholders that congregate to achieve a common purpose, and shared agenda.
Relationships are at the core of multi-stakeholder partnerships (or MSPs) — as they are in any collaborative venture. And the hallmarks of a ‘good’ relationship are equally present. In 2003, the Global Knowledge Partnership wrote of MSPs:
The central challenge seems to revolve around the nurturing of a working relationship based on trust, mutual respect, open communication, and understanding among stakeholders about each other’s strengths and weaknesses (Global Knowledge Partnership 2003)
It’s perhaps no surprise that creating a partnership — in particular, finding those to partner with — is an early and fundamental challenge to all MSP initiatives. And unlike Bachelor in Paradise, there aren’t always a set of producers to find the candidates.
We’ve spent time working with some really impressive and exciting multi-stakeholder platforms doing all sorts of things with a common purpose. Throughout our experience, we’ve noted some of the ingredients that might be useful to look for in a new relationship when you’re setting up a multi-stakeholder partnership:
1. Reciprocity — the gives and gets
All successful relationships are more likely to be sustained if each party is able to get something and give something to it. Take Abbie and Matt in last year’s Australian Bachelor.
Abbie wanted a fling and she was willing to give that to Matt.
Matt wanted a wife and was willing to give very little.
Abbie was vilified for being clear. Matt was portrayed as hard-done by. There is plenty more to the story, I’m sure, yet the missing ingredient in their relationship was reciprocity.
The willingness to exchange things in order to achieve positive action is vital during the establishment of relationships and often will illuminate barriers if one party is giving or getting more from the relationship.
2. Commitment
Commitment to both the cause and the process is crucial to a sustained multi-stakeholder platform. Gavi, the vaccine alliance, is perhaps one of today’s most high profile multi-stakeholder platforms, bringing together public, private and civil society stakeholders to ensure vaccines are made available to the world’s children. For the past 20 years, Gavi has enabled manufacturers to create vaccines at prices that are affordable for the world’s poorest countries, while gaining access to long-term, high-volume markets.
What has proven critical for Gavi, and other MSPs like it, is a commitment of partners to the cause (in this case, vaccinating the world’s poorest children), and the process, or model by which all partners contribute to that cause.
As the world continues to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, commitment and recommitment to platforms such as Gavi are likely to be even more important.
3. Diversity
All successful multi-stakeholder platforms are built on diverse perspectives, and the belief in collaborative advantage — that more can be achieved by working together than going it alone.
A quick glance at this year’s Bachelor in Paradise contestants suggests that diversity may not have been front and centre in the casting process: yes there’s a girl next door; a motor-cross-spear fishing expert; a smattering of self-confessed true romantics; and a goofball loveable larrakin — but you could be forgiven for thinking that these folks are perhaps more similar, than they are different.
For the types of partnerships we find ourselves working with, broader tents (or is it churches?) seem to be best: those that embrace a diversity of skills, perspectives, resources, histories, motivations and traditions. Intentionally looking for diversity — however it is defined — is therefore a critical step in setting up an MSP and ensuring it is positioned to truly respond to the challenges of our times.
There’s no silver bullet, or cupid’s arrow, when it comes to forming partnerships and platforms. There are wins and losses, great relationships, and spectacular breakups. Starting with a spirit of reciprocity, commitment to cause and process, and a genuine interest in diversity, will go a long way to strengthening the foundations of a strong and vibrant platform.
MSPs in Paradise? Pass the popcorn.
