Collaborative Platforms

The Summer 2009 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review has a terrific article by Satish Nambisan, Platforms for Collaboration.

 "Some of the brightest ideas for social change grow in the spaces between organizations and sectors.  Yet few organizations have systems to make collaboration happen.  To foster innovation, organizations need to develop places where they can come together and work creatively--that is, platforms for collaboration."

Nambisan identifies three types of collaborative platforms:

• Exploration - What's the Problem?
• Experimentation - What's the Solution?
• Execution - Giving the Solution Away

No matter the purpose, collaborative platforms demand new capabilties:

• Network Perspective - Look beyond organization boundaries to leverage external resources
• Plug-and-Play Expertise - Package expertise to quickly and cost-effectively deploy in new contexts
• Success Metrics - Agreement on measures that reflect all stakeholders' concerns

This issue has other timely articles on the history of KIVA.org and B (Beneficial) Corporation certification as well as the cover story: Ethics and Nonprofits: How Nonprofit Leaders Can Promote Ethical Behavior Within Their Organizations.

Restoring trust is not limited to financial markets.  Associations and nonprofits face the same skepticism and scrutiny.