The partnering lifecycle – the process that a partnership follows and the different stages that it goes through, builds up four interconnected Building Blocks of effective partnering that are needed for the Global Partnership.
The diagram shows the lifecycle of a ‘typical’ partnership (we use quote marks because all partnerships are unique!).
These value streams (stages) are explained:
The starting point or imperative to partner may come from a number of places:
- Failed attempts to solve a problem or meet a need using conventional approaches, or a feeling of collective frustration with the status quo, leading to the determination to do things differently;
- The vision of an influential individual who can see an opportunity, and knows they can’t achieve it alone;
- A national plan with political backing which cannot be delivered through traditional government approaches;
- Exchanges between individuals in informal settings (e.g. CEOs meeting at Davos), or in more intentional settings such as innovation labs or platforms for partnership
- Organisations which have previously been working in partnership, looking to do something new or different.
Partnerships in general tend to work best when starting with the need / problem / opportunity and with partners gathered around that issue based on the key resources and insights they might bring to it.
What is usually less promising as the basis for a partnership is when an organisation is acting in a self-focussed way, for example, looking to cover organisational costs or to improve its reputation after previous poor performance.
Generally speaking, solid and value-generating partnerships are more likely when all partners come to the table with an attitude more focussed on giving rather than taking – i.e. thinking "what can I bring" to a partnership and "what can we do together" rather than the first thought being "what can I get out of it".
Source: The SDG Partnership Guidebook (page 38).
The backlinks below usually do not include the child and sibling items, nor the pages in the breadcrumbs.
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